Similar brief interventions are also advised for smoking cessation and higher-risk alcohol consumption. In the UK, primary care practitioners are therefore encouraged to instigate brief conversations to help identify at-risk patients (including calculating BMI as part of their assessment), explain behaviour modifications that would lead to weight reductions, and make referrals to specialist weight management services if required. Research suggests that well-planned and adequately resourced brief interventions delivered in primary care can be effective in stimulating weight loss, particularly when discussions generate referrals to specialist weight management services. Īs most of the population in the UK are registered with a General Practitioner (GP) practice, primary care settings provide a large-scale and high-reach opportunity for obesity intervention and prevention. Obesity has also personal health implications, for example it is linked to multiples types of cancer and over 20,000 cancer cases each year in the United Kingdom (UK). This has economic implications, as the National Health Service (NHS) spends an estimated £6.1 billion on overweight and obesity-related ill-health each year, and the wider costs to society are estimated at £27 billion. In 2017/2018, there were 10,660 hospital admissions directly linked to obesity in England and nearly three quarters of a million admissions where obesity was a factor. In England, over a third (35.6%) of adults have an overweight Body Mass Index (BMI) and almost another third (28.7%) have an obese BMI. Future research should test alternative mechanisms to increase weight assessment and advice provision, examine the effectiveness of advice frequently given, and seek solutions to reported barriers for providing weight management advice. ConclusionsĬonsistent with previous research, the findings suggest that opportunities to provide weight management advice in primary care, including to patients with an obese BMI, are potentially missed. Weight management advice was provided more frequently than referrals, particularly suggesting increased physical activity (93%) and diet modification (89%). Three quarters (78%) said they provided weight management advice to patients with an obese BMI Always/Often, with GPs less likely to do so than PNs ( OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.47–0.85).

Half of practitioners (58%) said they calculated the BMI of all patients Always/Often, with GPs less likely to do so than PNs ( OR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.21–0.34). In the mock consultation, physical cues (40%) were most likely to prompt calculation of BMI, and half of practitioners (56%) provided weight management advice after determining the patient had an obese BMI, with GPs less likely to do so than PNs ( Odds Ratio = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47–0.75). Binary logistic regressions examined whether frequency of assessing weight and providing advice was associated with practitioner characteristics. For all patients, practitioners were asked how often they calculated BMI, how often they gave weight management advice to patients with an obese BMI, and how often they utilised different advice or referral options (each: Always/Often vs.

A mock consultation exercise assessed what factors led to calculating a patient’s Body Mass Index (BMI) and whether weight management advice was given after determining the patient had an obese BMI. MethodsĬross-sectional survey with GPs and PNs in the UK ( n = 2020), conducted January–March 2017. This study examines the self-reported frequency of assessing weight and providing weight management advice by General Practitioners (GPs) and Practice Nurses (PNs) working in primary care in the UK, and differences by practitioner characteristics. Although primary care settings provide a large-scale and high-reach opportunity for weight management and obesity prevention, the proportion of adults in the United Kingdom (UK) who report receiving weight management advice is limited.

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