This article discusses in great detail the responsibility and struggles of patients, but is light on how clinicians can actively help patients to successfully lose weight.

We need to work with patients-step-by-step, throughout the process-to ensure positive outcomes. For example, clinicians can use body mass index indicators to identify problems during office visits and ensure that patients leave with a few recommendations for ways they can improve their overall health and weight. They can also go home with a referral to a specialist, such as a nutritionist, who can help them combat some of the barriers discussed in this article.

Expecting patients to remember and understand a significant amount of information, contact various specialists independently, make life changes, deal with failures, and still be successful may be one of the reasons achieving weight loss has become such an overwhelming problem for so many.

Afi Alfred, RN

Boston