Community Corner
New Horizon Aligned with AMA on Obesity
On Tuesday June 18, 2013 the American Medical Association declared that Obesity is a disease.
Now that Obesity has been declared a disease by the AMA people are asking questions such as:
What do I do? Where do I go for treatment? How do I pay for weight loss treatment? Who is qualified to treat Obesity?
Recommendations made by the American Medical Association for the treatment of Obesity have several components.
First being that the primary care physician must be prepared to counsel and treat obesity themselves
-or-
Refer the patient to a weight loss specialist who will treat and address the problem.
In treating Obesity the following components must be involved:
• Medical Supervision
• Behavioral management
• Nutrition and diet programs
• Fitness and exercise programs
• Lifestyle changes
Finding a specialist that incorporates all of these modalities might be a
challenge for both the patient and physician.
The good news is that there is a medical facility already in existence that has been treating Obesity as a disease for over a year now.
This facility is New Horizon Weight Loss and is located in Norwood Mass.
It's staffing consists of Nurse Practitioners that are weight loss specialist, Dietitians, Sports Nutritionist, Wellness Coaches,
Wellness Counselors (licensed clinical social workers) and Certified Personal Trainers.
Because they are a medical center and have been approaching Obesity as a true medical condition this program is covered by most health insurances.