Preventing obesity in the primary care setting.

Abstract

This article outlines steps on how to move the treatment of obesity to a new paradigm of prevention in the primary care setting. Almost all Americans visit their primary care physician or health care provider for routine health maintenance or some unexpected illness or sickness at one point or another. The primary care office is the most likely entry point to the health care system for most of the population and should be the preferred venue for addressing chronic disease prevention. Prevention in the primary care setting is the short- and long-term solution to obesity.