Medscape (06/24/25) Swift, Diane

Researchers report the success of an educational intervention that targeted weight bias in healthcare. The authors developed a 4-hour continuing medical education program that focused on reducing healthcare providers' (HCPs) weight biases and obesity-related clinical practice behaviors. The program, which was held in April 2021, was conducted at a single site in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California healthcare system, with 472 eligible HCPs invited. Using a 16-item questionnaire, the researchers focused on three types of weight bias: negative obesity stereotypes, empathy for patients, and confidence in clinical interaction with patients with obesity. A post-program survey found that negative obesity stereotypes among program participants were significantly lower from baseline levels, while empathy and confidence levels increased. Using electronic medical records, researchers tracked participants' objective practice changes regarding obesity diagnosis and referrals to health lifestyle programs, obesity medicine, and bariatric surgery, with comparative analyses performed for 218 attendees and 89 nonparticipants. HCPs who participated in the program had a greater likelihood of obesity diagnosis and obesity-related referrals in the year after the intervention compared with those who did not attend, after adjusting for demographic factors. "The increase in the number of referrals to obesity care was so overwhelming, we had to change the BMI eligibility criterion to handle the influx," said study author Amanda Velazquez, MD, of the Center for Weight Management and Metabolic Health and the Jim and Eleanor Randall Department of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The findings were reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

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