Griffin Hospital’s Post

The “Trust for America’s Health” reported in September that the national adult obesity rate has risen to 42%, and the national rate of obesity among children and adolescents has risen as well. At nearly 20%, the childhood obesity rate has more than tripled since the mid- 1970s. A startling fact is that only a decade ago, no state in the U.S. had an adult obesity rate above 35%. The CDC reported that last year 22 states had a rate above 35%. Thankfully, Connecticut is not one of those states, but with a rate of 32%, the Nutmeg State runs the risk of becoming the 23rd high adult obesity rate state. We know that obesity is a chronic and complex health condition influenced by biology, genetics, diet, as well as social, behavioral, and emotional factors requiring interventions that focus on both prevention and treatment. To be successful, population level efforts aimed at preventing obesity must address underlying economic and structural factors that impact living conditions including access to affordable healthy food, healthcare, and safe places to be physically active particularly among socially vulnerable populations. The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, Griffin Hospital and its community partners that are members of the Valley Council of Health and Services have been developing and implementing strategies to address these factors and their resulting conditions head on. Knowing that obesity is increasing in prevalence and that it puts individuals at greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke  digestive disorders, certain cancers,  and mental health conditions, a range of treatment options demonstrated to help obese individuals reach and stay at a healthy weight to improve their overall health and lower their risk of developing obesity related complications must be made available to all who need them. That is why Griffin Health has developed a broad obesity treatment offering that includes highly effective behavior modification and lifestyle change programs, nutritional and mental health individual and group counseling, medically assisted weight loss programs that include the use of weight loss medicines, and a comprehensive American College of Surgeons accredited bariatric surgery program. I want to thank the very courageous Olivia Salza for sharing the details of her struggle with obesity and for chronicling her “weight loss surgery journey” after concluding that bariatric surgery was the best treatment option for her. I hope that Olivia’s story at the link below including the positive benefits weight loss has had on her health and well-being will inspire others to seek the care and support they need to treat their obesity.  

Title: The Shocking Truth About Adult Obesity Rates Introduction: In today's society, the prevalence of obesity has reached alarming levels. The growing concern over adult obesity rates has become a global health crisis, affecting individuals of all ages, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This article aims to shed light on the shocking truth behind this epidemic and explore its causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Body: 1. The Rising Statistics: - Start with eye-opening statistics, such as the percentage of adults affected by obesity worldwide and its dramatic increase over the years. - Highlight the regional variations and disparities in obesity rates, emphasizing the burden on certain populations and communities. 2. Causes and Contributing Factors: - Discuss the primary factors contributing to adult obesity, including poor dietary habits, sedentary lifestyles, and genetic predisposition. - Explore the impact of environmental factors, such as the availability of unhealthy food options, food advertising, and socioeconomic inequalities. - Address the psychological and emotional factors that often play a role in overeating and weight gain. 3. Health Consequences: - Outline the severe health risks associated with obesity, including an increased risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. - Emphasize the impact on mental health, discussing the link between obesity and depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. - Highlight the economic burden of obesity on healthcare systems, as well as its effect on productivity and quality of life. 4. Societal Impact: - Examine the broader implications of adult obesity on society, including the strain on healthcare resources, reduced life expectancy, and decreased overall well-being. - Discuss the stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with obesity, perpetuating social inequalities and hindering their access to employment, education, and healthcare. 5. Potential Solutions: - Explore various approaches to tackling adult obesity, including education and awareness campaigns, policy changes, and community-based interventions.

Obesity is Considered a Chronic Disease!! Obesity & Mental Health! -How prevalent is obesity in your country?? -Yes. In the USA & similar situations, obesity, with its overwhelming prevalence of 1 in 6 adults, is now recognized as a chronic disease by several organizations, including the American Medical Association. -The CDC defines “chronic disease” as conditions that last one year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living, or both. 3 leading chronic diseases are heart disease, cancer, & type 2 diabetes. -Obesity is associated with all 3 of these chronic diseases. The CDC also acknowledges widespread consequences of obesity when compared to normal or healthy weight for many serious health conditions, including all causes of death, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, stroke, & many cancers.  -Of the $3.3 trillion spent annually on medical care for chronic conditions, obesity alone is associated with $1.4 trillion. -OBESITY & MENTAL HEALTH -Numerous studies support a strong link between obesity & mental health. This relationship appears to be bi-directional; while mental health disorders increase the risk for obesity, having obesity also increases the risk of mental health disorders, especially in certain populations. CITATION: DECEMBER 30, 2023 Why Obesity is a Disease Obesity Medicine Association https://lnkd.in/d-4kTJtp. https://lnkd.in/d-4kTJtp.

Addressing the Global Obesity Epidemic: The Emergence of New Weight-Loss Solutions As we witness an alarming increase in obesity rates across the U.S. and globally, the spotlight turns to innovative treatments offering a glimmer of hope. A staggering 42% of U.S. adults are affected by obesity, a condition that extends its reach far beyond national borders, impacting millions worldwide (CDC). This critical issue is illuminated in an insightful article by Drew DeSilver, shedding light on the complex challenges and the burgeoning popularity of new weight-loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and others. These medications, part of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, have quickly become a beacon of hope for many, showing significant popularity gains in America and beyond. A Pew Research Center survey underscores a compelling narrative: 65% of Americans acknowledge that willpower alone is often insufficient for sustainable weight loss. This revelation aligns with the increasing awareness and acceptance of these new drugs, recognized by approximately three-quarters of Americans. Pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have reported impressive sales figures, highlighting the significant impact and growing reliance on these medications as part of the obesity management toolkit. 🔄 Shifting Perspectives on Obesity and Health The conversation around obesity and weight management is evolving, signaling a move towards more inclusive, comprehensive strategies that address the root causes of obesity while embracing medical innovations. 💡 Let’s Discuss: • In light of these developments, how can we balance the benefits of medication with the need for holistic lifestyle changes? • What role should healthcare providers play in fostering sustainable weight management and overall health? Your thoughts and contributions are invaluable as we navigate this complex landscape. Share your views below, and let’s engage in a meaningful dialogue towards a healthier future for all.

The 2020 Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines gave us the evidence-based recommendations for how to treat #obesity, however Obesity Canada – Obésité Canada's Report Card on Access To Treatment tells us that Canada is failing to provide adequate access to the treatments. More troubling is that Canadians living with obesity have limited access to specialized obesity care with physicians trained in obesity management and delivered through multidisciplinary teams. Given that obesity is a chronic disease that is prevalent and related to many other condiditons, we need to find ways to impliment the recommendations of the Clinical Practice Guidelines and improve the outcomes for the millions of Canadians living with obesity. While a dramatic increase in specialized obesity care delivered through multidisciplinary teams is ideal, the real need is to build obesity management into the existing systems as part of primary care and part of chronic disease management. In this new publication we aimed to understand what obesity management looks like for Canadians receiving care for obesity-related chronic conditions. More than 2500 individuals living with obesity and at least one obesity-related chronic condition participated in a national survey. Some key findings include: 1. While all participants can be assumed to have obesity based on the inclusion criteria, only 26.4% reported a formal diagnosis from their HCP, and only 9.2% received medically supervised treatment for obesity 2. 55% agree that obesity makes managing their other chronic diseases more challenging and 41% perceived that the lack of effective obesity management has limited their ability to manage their other chronic conditions. 3. 50% of participants whished their HCPs would take obesity management more seriously 4. 54% reported being aware that obesity is classified as a chronic disease, yet a staggering 78% believe it was solely their responsibility to manage it on their own - an indication that there is still lots of work to do in changing the narrative of obesity and could also point to high levels of internalized weight bias. Thanks to Obesity Canada's Community Action Team and everyone involved in this project. Obesity Canada – Obésité Canada Ximena Ramos Salas Brad H. Replica Communications Sanjeev Sockalingam Megha Poddar, MD Mary Forhan Lisa Schaffer Pam Hung #Healthcare #ChronicDiseaseManagement #healthevoices

Obesity is at an all-time high, with 63% of adults in England classed as overweight or obese, and 1 in 3 children leaving primary school overweight or obese. With the advent of several first generation GLP-1 agonist ‘disease-modifying’ therapies in obesity catalysing a complete rethink of the way that the #NHS views and commissions obesity pathways, CF conducted a thorough review of the ecosystem that these medicines are being launched into. We talked to a spectrum of leaders and experts, including people living with obesity, academics, senior clinicians across the pathway, commissioners, policy-makers and pharmaceutical leaders and identified 5 steps we can take to realise the opportunities for transformation within the obesity management pathway: 1. Recognise the size of the prize if we can address #obesity: £58 billion a year is the estimated wider cost of obesity to the UK according to a 2022 study. 2. Change national mindset around obesity: This needs to start with #NHSEngland recognising obesity as a serious and essentially involuntary chronic health condition that is highly genetic, so that as a society we can recognise and address the core role of psychology when managing obesity. 3. Recognise the inflection point brought by #DiseaseModifyingTherapies: Recently developed GLP-1 agonists that work by suppressing appetite are revolutionising the options for treating obesity. 4. Create a coherent #pathway that works for the patient and the system: We propose a pyramid of escalation with 4 tiers, similar to the diabetes management pathway. 5. Use the potential of #IntegratedCareSystems to develop the new models of care: The new obesity pathway needs to be co-designed and co-developed with ICSs to ensure the pathway works at a local level. For more details, check out our full report: https://lnkd.in/eRR6a78a #ObesityPathway #ObesityManagement #PathwayReview #PathwayTransformation #Transformation #GLP1 #PublicHealth #ICS NHS NHS England The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)

Obesity has long been considered a personal failing. Recent scientific evidence reveals that it's not. "For real progress to come, obesity experts agree, society must stop blaming people for a medical condition that is beyond their control. And people must stop blaming themselves. Nearly three-quarters of Americans are now considered overweight, and more than 4 in 10 meet the criteria for having obesity. Faced with reams of scientific evidence, the medical community has begun to stop blaming patients for not losing excess pounds. Obesity increases the risk for about 200 diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, arthritis, sleep apnea and many types of cancer. Obesity was a risk factor in nearly 12% of U.S. deaths in 2019. Even for COVID-19, carrying substantial extra weight triples the likelihood of severe disease."

🙏 Thanks Ted Kyle for bringing my attention to this new PLOS study showing that "BMI may not necessarily increase mortality independently of other risk factors in adults, especially older adults, with overweight BMI" and recognizing that most studies have used data from the 1960s through the 1990s and have included predominantly non-Hispanic White men and women which doesn't represent the contemporary US population who has (different BMI distribution, increased life expectancy, more racial/ethnic diversity, and access to treatment for obesity). Exploring why people with BMI 25-35 may have all cause mortality risk similar to those with BMI 18.5-25: 1️⃣ #Survival #advantages in various adverse circumstances, such as critical illness, major morbidities, and severe infection not offset by the increased risk of #chronic #metabolic #diseases 2️⃣ Overweight individuals without disease may be #metabolically #healthy and have a more #favorable #bodycomposition consisting of #higher #leanmass! BMI ALONE MAY BE INSUFFICIENT IN CLASSIFYING HIGH-RISK ADIPOSITY 3️⃣ #Lean individuals who develop #diseases such as HTN/DM may have more #aggressive or #treatmentresistant #disease, whereas #overweight or #obese individuals who develop such conditions may be able to manage or even reverse disease with weight loss strategies 4️⃣ Our population has become much more diverse, with greater representation of ethnic minorities and older adults in our cohort with potentially different body compositions compared to previous cohorts 🎤 And the conclusion that this study highlights the potential #limitations of #BMI in capturing true #adiposity and limitations of its #clinical #value independent of traditional metabolic syndrome criteria. Longitudinal studies incorporating weight history, complementary measures of body composition and body fat distribution undermeasured consequences of weight (like the #psychological #toll of #obesity), and #morbidity #outcomes are needed to fully characterize the relationship between BMI and #mortality. https://lnkd.in/giqXTdgp

Obesity is a serious public health crisis, and it’s one that we’re committed to addressing at Vida Health This article published today by the American Medical Association outlines three key treatment strategies for obesity: 1. Behavior change: This includes making changes to diet and exercise habits. 2. Medications: There are a number of FDA-approved medications that can help with weight loss. 3. Surgery: In some cases, surgery may be an option for weight loss. We believe that a comprehensive approach to obesity treatment is essential, including using both behavior change and medication personalized to the individual. Behavior change is the foundation of any weight loss plan, but it can be difficult to sustain on your own. Medications can help you lose weight quickly but should be paired with treatment from an expert like a dietitian who provides medical nutritional therapy so people can sustain their health outcomes. At Vida Health we offer a full spectrum of care including behavior change, prescribing, de-prescribing, and cognitive behavioral therapy to get at the root drivers of obesity and help people succeed in their journey. We are at a crossroads where obesity has doubled since the late 90s to be 42% of our population. We need to act now and ensure broad access through commercial insurance, Medicare, Medicaid. We are in a crisis, do you agree? #obesity #weightloss #treatment #health American Medical Association With U.S. obesity rate over 40%, 3 treatment keys for doctors The AMA recognized obesity as a disease a decade ago, yet the epidemic has worsened. Learn how physicians can address obesity like any other condition. (95 kB) https://lnkd.in/gyJg59WP

Happy to share our new pub! Adherence and dropout in exercise‐based interventions in childhood obesity: A systematic review of randomized trials. Adherence and dropout rates are among the most crucial yet frequently overlooked outcomes in exercise trials in adolescents with obesity. Neglecting these metrics can compromise the validity and generalizability of study findings