Introduction
Obesity is a serious problem in many countries around the globe. People with high BMI index are more vulnerable to such non-commutable diseases as heart disease and diabetes. As the number of patients with severe obesity rises daily, health management organizations need new methods and techniques for treatment and care delivery. The purpose of this paper is to give a critique of the article “Management of obesity: improvement of health-care training and systems for prevention and care” by Dietz et al. in terms of this issue.
Abstract of the article
The article by Dietz et al. (2015) explores the management of obesity as a prominent issue in the health-care system of many countries around the globe. The article includes the results and analysis of a systematic review conducted by the authors. Dietz et al. examined 118 published sources on adult and childhood obesity treatment.
Article Critique
The authors claim that health professionals use insufficient methods to address obesity (Dietz et al., 2015). Health-care providers need special education to use new therapies and means of psychological support for patients with obesity to provide positive development of the situation. Obese people still suffer from weight biases. Preclinical and medical students and even physicians have negative stereotypes that can undermine the treatment. Social activities should support medical therapies to help patients lose weight. The article also touches upon the co-occurrence of obesity and undernutrition in low-income and middle-income countries (Dietz et al., 2015).
From my point of view, Dietz et al. (2015) present a well-structured systematic review of published sources on obesity management. I think the authors present their ideas, logically dividing the text into paragraphs, using figures and tables. After an abstract and a brief introduction, the authors describe their search strategy and enumerate the key messages of their review (Dietz et al., 2015). Then they begin to analyze particular aspects of obesity management in the context of the modern health-care system (Dietz et al., 2015). Every aspect is presented under its subheading and supported by figures, tables, and statistics. The authors use the information gathered from more than one hundred sources to give a broad overview of their ideas (Dietz et al., 2015). Therefore, they manage to give credible research data for further development of the issue in later works.
In my opinion, the limitations of the article are closely connected to its method of study. Systematic review analyzes the existing literature on the theme of obesity management. Therefore it can only support or contradict the ideas expressed by the authors of the research without giving any new information. The credibility of the sources is always a vital question for this type of study. Nevertheless, the number of references and in-depth analysis of information by authors along with good structure present the article as a good resource for further investigations.
Conclusion
In their article, Dietz et al. present a systematic review of 118 print sources on the theme of obesity management. Their work is a well-structured analysis of particular aspects that influence obesity treatment in modern society. The authors claim that physicians should receive special training in the sphere of obesity management while current methods are insufficient and outdated. Negative stereotypes towards obese people on behalf of medical students and professionals undermine the treatment and affect the feelings of patients. The community should support medical therapies to help people lose weight. New technologies can improve obesity management. The authors examine the sources on adult and childhood obesity and the unique situation in low-income and middle-income countries. Despite the limitations of a systematic review as a method, the article presents a well-structured investigation that can be used for further studies.
Reference
Dietz, W. H., Baur, L. A., Hall, K., Puhl, R. M., Taveras, E. M., Uauy, R., & Kopelman, P. (2015). Management of obesity: Improvement of health-care training and systems for prevention and care. The Lancet, 385(9986), 2521-2533.