As some physicians decide to forgo routinely checking patient weight, others still consider weigh-ins a vital part of patient care, according to a Dec. 26 report from The New York Times.
Natasha Bhuyan, MD, vice president of in-office care and national medical director at the Amazon-owned primary care practice, One Medical, does not routinely check patient weight, believing that weight does not predict health.
Dr. Bhuyan told the Times the decision is based, in part, on research that shows weigh-ins can elicit shame for some patients and may keep them from seeking future care.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force first recommended obesity screening in 2012, the Times report said.
Other physicians expressed their support for routine weight checks.
"Unless the patient is phobic around their weight for some reason, it makes no sense not to quantify it from the medical perspective," Steven Heymsfield, MD, professor of metabolism and body composition at Baton Rouge-based Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center told the Times. He said he considered weight "as much a vital sign as blood pressure and respiratory rate."
Caroline Apovian, MD, co-director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital shared similar thoughts with the Times, specifically citing the effectiveness of bariatric surgery and weight-loss medications.
"Now that we have these great new treatments, why would you do this?" Dr. Apovian said. "If primary care providers all over the country can address the obesity first and treat it, then in the long run we are going to reduce the incidence of all these other problems."