Addressing Disparities in the Management of Obesity in Primary Care Settings

Approximately 90 million U.S. adults (42.4%) now live with obesity,(1)which is disproportionately present in socioeconomically disadvantaged persons and affects 57% of Black women.(1)Obesity increases the risk of many adverse health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, multiple types of cancers, impaired quality of life, and (as recently discovered) complications from Covid-19.(2,3)Despite this disease burden, the management of obesity in primary care settings has greatly lagged behind that of other chronic conditions. Only in the past decade has obesity been formally recognized as a disease rather than a perceived lifestyle choice, and reimbursement of behavioral and pharmacologic . . .