Patient-centered Treatment for Obesity: Guidelines from the Canadian Obesity Society

Treatment for overweight and obesity remains freighted with destructive notions and prejudices embedded during decades of diet culture, according to authors of the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines.

The guideline recieved signficant attention during the recent European Congress on Obesity (May 4-7, 2022), with the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) the most recent organization to adopt the tenets of the Canadian approach.

A key difference in development of the Canadian guideline was the early recognition that weight bias and stigma have been fundamental barriers to increasing and improving obesity research, education, and policy. The committee prioritized weight bias and stigma and "used this lens in every aspect of our work," according to an EASO statement.

One of the clearest reflections of use of this lens is a shift throughout the document from a focus on a healthy weight to a focus on healthy behavior change, regardless of body size or weight. Healthy behavior change is the new definition of "success."

The following Guideline Topline presents the 5 steps in the "patient arc" to guide the primary care clinician in this type of care for people living with obesity.

Reference: Wharton S, Lau DCW, Vallis M, et al. Obesity in adults: a clinical practice guideline. CMAJ. 2020;192:E875-91. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.191707