2022 Atlanta Board of Trustees Meeting

outcomes including prediabetes, diabetes and hypertension and deserve a broader multi-stakeholder strategy; and Whereas simply telling patients affected by obesity to “eat less, move more,” has not worked and has been shown not to result in long-term sustained weight loss over 85% of the time because CNS pathways sense changes in weight and body energy stores and exert opposing effects on energy balance to promote homeostasis 22,23,24 ; and Whereas a recent AMA report found that obesity education remains inadequate at medical school and residency programs 25 ; and Whereas “Low levels of emotional rapport in primary care visits with patients with overweight and obesity may weaken the patient-physician relationship, diminish patients’ adherence to recommendations, and decrease the effectiveness of behavior change counseling,” leading to increases in physician burnout 26 ; and Whereas our AMA is in a position to influence public policies around obesity ranging from public awareness and physician education to public policy around nutrition and insurance coverage of evidence-based obesity prevention and treatment services; and Whereas in spite of the numerous policies our AMA has adopted regarding obesity, education remains sparse 27 , coverage for evidence-based services remains inconsistent, and current efforts at prevention and treatment remain largely ineffective; and 22 Chaput JP et al. Obes Rev. 2012;13:681-691. 23 NHLBI. 2012. www.nhlbi.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes#. Accessed May 23rd, 2017. 24 Schwartz MW et al. Diabetes. 2003;52:232-238. 25 CME report 3, AMA a-17 26 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3694993/ Accessed 11/19/2019 27 Mastrocola MR, et al. Int J Obes (Lond). 2019. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/31551484/?i=4&from=stanford%20fc#) Accessed 11/21/2019