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American Academy of Family Physicians Establishes Panel on Obesity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Contact:
Adam Lee
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237 Ext. 5221
alee@aafp.org

SAN DIEGO -- The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) strives to provide its members and other healthcare providers with up-to-the-minute clinical information and ongoing educational opportunities. The following new initiative is designed to help physicians improve their quality of patient care and the quality of their patients’ lives.

The AAFP has established a Physician Panel on Obesity. The panel will discuss the role of nutrition and exercise in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. The AAFP will publish an American Family Physician monograph on the subject, which will be distributed to Academy members the second quarter of 2003. Patient information will be distributed later in 2003.

This endeavor is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from McNeil Nutritionals. McNeil Nutritionals develops and produces nutritional products designed to enable consumers to actively manage their own health.

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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 93,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 215 million office visits each year – nearly 48 million more than the next medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved and rural populations.

In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit www.aafp.org.

For more information about the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care and downloadable multi-media on family medicine and health care, visit the AAFP Media Center.

For more information about health care, health conditions, and wellness, please visit familydoctor.org.