Logo image
Back
Prevalence and Determinants of Engagement with Obesity Care in the United States
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Prevalence and Determinants of Engagement with Obesity Care in the United States

Andrew Stokes, Jason M Collins, Bethany F Grant, Chia-Wen Hsiao, Stephen S Johnston, Eric M Ammann, Kaitlyn M Berry, Cindy Tong and Robin F Scamuffa
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), Vol.26(5), pp.814-818
05/2018
DOI: 10.1002/oby.22173
PMCID: PMC5947584
PMID: 29626388
url
https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22173View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Medical management of obesity can result in significant weight loss and reduce the burden of obesity-related complications. This report employs a new conceptual model to quantify engagement with obesity care and associated determinants in the US adult population. Engagement with obesity care was conceptualized as a cascade comprising 5 successive steps: perceiving oneself as overweight, desiring to lose weight, attempting weight loss, seeking care from a health care professional for obesity, and seeking care from a physician specifically. Among adults with obesity, 7.3% did not perceive themselves as overweight, 1.5% perceived themselves as overweight but had no desire to lose weight, 29.9% wanted to lose weight but did not try in the last year, 51.3% tried to lose weight but did not consult a health professional, and 6.4% sought help for weight loss from a health professional but not a physician, implying that 96.4% of the population with obesity had an unmet need for obesity care. This analysis provides new insight into the most common points along the cascade at which disengagement occurs and can inform efforts to improve uptake of obesity-related health care services.
 Adult Body Mass Index Cross-Sectional Studies Female Humans Male Middle Aged Obesity - epidemiology Obesity - therapy Prevalence United States

Details

Metrics

19 Record Views
29 Times Cited - Web of Science
Logo image