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Working Together to Fight Obesity
introduction Working Together to Fight Obesity
A
s your American Dietetic Association (ADA) president for 20052006, I am honored to have been asked to make some introductory comments about this significant supplement to our Journal. This supplement is a pioneering effort by the ADA to bring members of the health care team together to synthesize cutting-edge information and plan for future collaborative efforts to reduce the prevalence of obesity in our nation and around the world. In an unprecedented outreach effort, this supplement is being mailed not only to our members, but to a multitude of physicians throughout the country. This effort enables dietetics practitioners to share their evidence-based knowledge and expertise, enhanced with applications relevant to today. In that spirit, as Dr St Jeor has pointed out in her introduction, we offer not only Continuing Professional Education credit for our members, but Continuing Medical Education credit for our physician readers—for the very first time! Along with the increase in obesity, we see the concomitant rise in other dangerous disorders, such as type II diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and dyslipidemias. Solutions arrive from many arenas—preventive, medical, surgical, behavioral, and others. However, the key to successful long-term treatment we now know comes from a team approach to treat the total patient. The five sections within this supplement— etiology and pathophysiology, treatment strategies, prevention issues, crosscutting issues, and applications in practice—all address both the science and the art of caring for obese patients of all ages. Today’s armamentarium for treating and diagnosing the obese patient includes new medications, new dis-
Rebecca S. Reeves, DrPH, RD, FADA coveries of adipose secretions, expanded bariatric surgery procedures, and other tools. However, this spectrum of dazzling advances includes one constant: The patient must change his or her lifestyle to reduce calories and increase physical activity. We believe that, through their training and expertise, dietetics professionals are the recognized authority on the complexities of lifestyle change who can work with clients to sustain these changes. It surely comes as no surprise that managing obesity is a priority for the ADA. In fact, a visit to ADA’s Web site on obesity-related initiatives reveals a sampling of the research and other activities dedicated to changing the shape of the American family for now and the future. I encourage you to visit the site at www.eatright.org/ Member/index_12498.cfm to see what this organization can and does do. Over 6 years ago, the Journal published its first supplement on obesity, titled “The Obesity Epidemic: A Mandate for a Multidisciplinary Approach.” Much has changed since that original supplement, which addressed the prevention, treatment, and outcomes of obesity. One charge, however, remains immutable. In the words of that first supplement’s
© 2005 by the American Dietetic Association
Guest Editor, James M. Rippe, MD, “The bad news is that this epidemic conveys enormous negative health consequences. The good news is that health care professionals, working in teams and led by physicians and dietitians, can dramatically improve the lives and health status of persons with the chronic disease of obesity. Effective obesity treatment is at once a great challenge and an enormous opportunity” (1). I echo Dr Rippe’s thoughts, and add that we are indeed anxious to work together with our health care colleagues. In this supplement, we see this collegiality manifest in the combined authorship of many of the papers by both dietetics professionals and physicians. One final thought: The collaboration between dietetics professionals and physicians in this supplement is underpinned by our own internal collaborations to bring this supplement to fruition. Authors and reviewers for this supplement include members of ADA’s Research Committee, the Obesity Steering Task Force, and several dietetic practice groups, as well as many other individuals. For their dedicated work, I am grateful, and for the collaborations in the future, I am hopeful.
—Rebecca S. Reeves, DrPH, RD, FADA doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2005.03.018 Reference 1. Rippe JM. The obesity epidemic: Challenges and opportunities. J Am Diet Assoc 1998;98(suppl 2): S5.
Supplement to the Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
S13
A
s your American Dietetic Association (ADA) president for 20052006, I am honored to have been asked to make some introductory comments about this significant supplement to our Journal. This supplement is a pioneering effort by the ADA to bring members of the health care team together to synthesize cutting-edge information and plan for future collaborative efforts to reduce the prevalence of obesity in our nation and around the world. In an unprecedented outreach effort, this supplement is being mailed not only to our members, but to a multitude of physicians throughout the country. This effort enables dietetics practitioners to share their evidence-based knowledge and expertise, enhanced with applications relevant to today. In that spirit, as Dr St Jeor has pointed out in her introduction, we offer not only Continuing Professional Education credit for our members, but Continuing Medical Education credit for our physician readers—for the very first time! Along with the increase in obesity, we see the concomitant rise in other dangerous disorders, such as type II diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and dyslipidemias. Solutions arrive from many arenas—preventive, medical, surgical, behavioral, and others. However, the key to successful long-term treatment we now know comes from a team approach to treat the total patient. The five sections within this supplement— etiology and pathophysiology, treatment strategies, prevention issues, crosscutting issues, and applications in practice—all address both the science and the art of caring for obese patients of all ages. Today’s armamentarium for treating and diagnosing the obese patient includes new medications, new dis-
Rebecca S. Reeves, DrPH, RD, FADA coveries of adipose secretions, expanded bariatric surgery procedures, and other tools. However, this spectrum of dazzling advances includes one constant: The patient must change his or her lifestyle to reduce calories and increase physical activity. We believe that, through their training and expertise, dietetics professionals are the recognized authority on the complexities of lifestyle change who can work with clients to sustain these changes. It surely comes as no surprise that managing obesity is a priority for the ADA. In fact, a visit to ADA’s Web site on obesity-related initiatives reveals a sampling of the research and other activities dedicated to changing the shape of the American family for now and the future. I encourage you to visit the site at www.eatright.org/ Member/index_12498.cfm to see what this organization can and does do. Over 6 years ago, the Journal published its first supplement on obesity, titled “The Obesity Epidemic: A Mandate for a Multidisciplinary Approach.” Much has changed since that original supplement, which addressed the prevention, treatment, and outcomes of obesity. One charge, however, remains immutable. In the words of that first supplement’s
© 2005 by the American Dietetic Association
Guest Editor, James M. Rippe, MD, “The bad news is that this epidemic conveys enormous negative health consequences. The good news is that health care professionals, working in teams and led by physicians and dietitians, can dramatically improve the lives and health status of persons with the chronic disease of obesity. Effective obesity treatment is at once a great challenge and an enormous opportunity” (1). I echo Dr Rippe’s thoughts, and add that we are indeed anxious to work together with our health care colleagues. In this supplement, we see this collegiality manifest in the combined authorship of many of the papers by both dietetics professionals and physicians. One final thought: The collaboration between dietetics professionals and physicians in this supplement is underpinned by our own internal collaborations to bring this supplement to fruition. Authors and reviewers for this supplement include members of ADA’s Research Committee, the Obesity Steering Task Force, and several dietetic practice groups, as well as many other individuals. For their dedicated work, I am grateful, and for the collaborations in the future, I am hopeful.
—Rebecca S. Reeves, DrPH, RD, FADA doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2005.03.018 Reference 1. Rippe JM. The obesity epidemic: Challenges and opportunities. J Am Diet Assoc 1998;98(suppl 2): S5.
Supplement to the Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
S13