The Canadian Obesity Network  (CON) has developed a program for primary care providers called the 5As of Obesity Management Roadmap. According to our colleague and one of the developers of the tool, Dr. Arya Sharma, “The 5As provide a significant paradigm shift in obesity management and incorporate all of our current concepts including showing sensitivity to the patient, using staging to determine risk, applying an etiological approach to determining drivers, consequences and barriers, setting modest and realistic weight management targets with a focus on improving health, the notion of Best Weight, the importance of sleep and stress management, the focus on behaviour changes (SMART goals), the judicious use of low-calorie diets, the concept of chronic disease management with ongoing follow-up, and many other finer but novel points not found in any of the conventional obesity wisdom.”

With new drugs coming on the US market, physicians will need tools like this to maximize their interactions with patients.

http://www.obesitynetwork.ca/page.aspx?page=2895&app=182&cat1=457&tp=12&lk=no&menu=37