Clinical Guidance
One-third of adults and 17% of youth in the United States are considered obese. You play a critical role in counseling patients about healthy interventions to promote weight loss or prevent the onset of obesity. The AAFP offers you evidence-based, and practical obesity and fitness resources to support your patients’ weight management needs. These can help you:
- Identify obstacles to nutritional eating habits and suggest alternative food choices.
- Recommend positive behavioral strategies, such as ways to cope with stress, cognitive behavior therapy options, food journaling, and how to establish a social support network.
- Set realistic physical activity goals.
Treatment and Management Recommendations
Healthful Diet and Physical Activity to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
Managing Your Practice
Coding & Payment: How to Support Chronic Care Management Services
Coordinated Care and Care Management Tools and Resources
Annual Wellness Visit
Quality Measures: Identify Opportunities to Improve Patient Care
The AAFP in conjunction with the Core Quality Measure Collaborative promotes measure harmonization across programs and payers. Listed here are the measures currently selected to evaluate obesity.
| Obesity Quality Measures | |||
| 0421/ 0421e | Preventive Care and Screening: Body Mass Index (BMI) Screening and Follow-Up |
National Committee for Quality Assurance | No longer NQF endorsed. Developer plans to maintain measure independently. eCQM available |
| 0024 | 0024 Weight Assessment and Counseling for Nutrition and Physical Activity for Children/Adolescents (WCC) | National Committee for Quality Assurance |
Telehealth eligible |
Implementation Tools and Considerations
Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into Family Practice
Lifestyle medicine focuses on five main domains: connectedness, movement, nutrition, recovery, and substance use. When addressing all domains together, lifestyle medicine can address multiple chronic diseases simultaneously.
AAFP TIPS: Quality Improvement
Train your team on the benefits, concepts, and steps of the quality improvement process to enhance the care you provide. Includes two online learning courses, three customizable slide decks, and six downloadable tools. CME: 1 AAFP Prescribed credit; Free to members.
Helping Patients Set Fitness Goals
Encouraging your patients to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle for weight management is a crucial wellness strategy, but these conversations can be challenging.
Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into Family Practice
Family physicians are positioned to champion and prescribe lifestyle medicine in the clinic. This can address multiple chronic diseases simultaneously.
Education
Clinician Education
AAFP Continuing Medical Education
Obesity CME for the Family Physician
CME Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into Everyday Practice
View all AAFP CME activities related to the following topics:
Wellness and Preventive Care
Cardiovascular Conditions
AFP Journal
Obesity Topic Module
Health Maintenance and Counseling Topic Module
Nutrition Topic Module
FPM Journal
FPM Topic: Obesity
How to Use Group Visits to Manage Obesity
Ending the Stigma: Improving Care for Patients Who Are Overweight or Obese
How to Help Patients Who are Overweight or Obese Feel Welcome in Your Practice
Patient Education
From Familydoctor.org:
Food & Nutrition
Nutrition: How to Make Healthier Food Choices
Obesity
What It Takes to Lose Weight