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NHMRC guidelines for obesity |
GPs know better than anyone the serious health consequences of obesity. Every day, we deal in some way with the complications of a disease that now rivals smoking as the most preventable cause of ill health in our community. A week doesn’t go by without numerous references to this problem in the media. This coverage will only increase with politicians at last seeing it as a necessary issue for debate and policy development.
GPs are at the forefront of clinical management and are well positioned to play a major role in both prevention and treatment of the complications of obesity. There will inevitably be government incentives for us to become more involved in this field and opportunities are looming for us to address this community health issue at a local level.
To assist us we now have the NHMRC Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity in adults, children, adolescents and a guide for GPs. All these documents are based on current scientific evidence
Dr Kate Steinbeck was the main author of the child and adolescent section. Dr Anne Thorburn and Dr Garry Egger were the main authors of the adult section. There was a wide consultation process with a range of experts in the field and interest groups, including a small input from myself.
The end result is three easy to read, but comprehensive documents, that can be obtained free of charge for doctors ($25 for non doctors) through phone
1800 020 103 ext 8654, email: phd.publications@health.gov.au,
or through the NHMRC website www.obesityguidelines.gov.au.
Having these in your reference library for your practice is recommended as the topic shapes up to be the major 21st century epidemic for us to grapple with. Ignoring the issue could have disastrous consequences for our health budget and the overall health and wellbeing of our community.
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