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Nutrition
& Obesity Publications
WIN
NIDDK
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Winter 1999
Getting the Word Out on Obesity Treatment
Effort to Promote Clinical Guidelines Continues
On June 17, 1998, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
together with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK), released the first Federal clinical guidelines on identifying,
evaluating, and treating overweight and obesity in adults. Since then,
the Institutes have continued to work to provide primary care practitioners,
as well as the public, with the information they need to address overweight
and obesity.
The Clinical Guidelines have received widespread television, newspaper,
and magazine coverage as well as publication in scientific journals. The
Guidelines received more than 430 million audience impressions in June
alone, according to Karen Donato, coordinator of NHLBI's Obesity Education
Initiative.
The Guidelines themselves, as well as most of their supporting and supplemental
material, have been published by the Government Printing Office and are
also available from NIDDK's website at www.niddk.nih.gov/welcome/releases.htm.
Educational materials derived from the Guidelines include the Practical
Guide (an abbreviated, "user-friendly" version of the Guidelines),
an executive summary, evidence tables, body mass index calculations, practical
tips, and appendixes. A slide kit and a pocket guide, which will be a
short form of the Guidelines, are under development.
NHLBI, NIDDK, and the National Task Force on Prevention and Treatment
of Obesity are discussing ways to assess the impact of the Guidelines
on primary care physicians. The North American Association for the Study
of Obesity is developing a continuing medical education (CME) course on
the Guidelines.
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