In the future, Pugh would like to see a more hands on approach between health care professionals and patients when it comes to weight loss.
One way of doing this, Pugh suggests, is having diabetes educators or dietitians accompany their patients to the grocery store. There they can illustrate the proper healthy and low calorie food items for their patient's diet plan. "More than just telling a patient they need to lose weight - we need to make sure that they understand how to do this," says Pugh.
Pugh also points out that many health care professionals are not immune from society's prejudices when it comes to the obese. "Many are judgmental and they view obese patients as being weak willed," says Pugh. This can erode the patient/doctor relationship even further and increase a patient's frustration over losing weight.
The article then says what I've known for a long time:
Kris Berg, EdD, professor of physical education at the University of Nebraska, goes as far as to advise his patients to stay in the outside aisles of the grocery store where the fresh foods are kept, so that they will avoid the temptation of fattening snacks. This is sound advice considering that ten peanuts can be a hefty 200 calories and a regular potato chip might have as much as 25 calories in it. After a few high-calorie snacks a day, a person may find that they are gaining pounds instead of shedding them.
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