Helping Patients Outsmart Overeating

November 21, 2016
In a caring manner, psychotherapist Koenig and physician O’Mahoney provide insights into the psychological and physiological barriers to weight loss faced by both doctors and patients. This introductory work begins by acknowledging the frustration that medical providers feel about their often limited success in this field. One key issue, according to the authors, is that medical students are seldom trained in how to compassionately approach patients who are struggling to lose weight. A listing of common patient complaints about the medical system’s failings, presented in a balanced manner, will help medical professionals understand that this is more than a matter of patient noncompliance. Discussions of the process of weight loss, insights into the psychological issues behind dysregulated eating habits, and the dangers of yo-yo dieting are supported with cited research. Care is taken to acknowledge that medical providers need support in helping their patients resolve issues that interfere with healthy living. The authors carefully lay out the information (in text that can feel repetitive) and end most chapters with useful tips. Health professionals will find this a solid guide; the material is also accessible to non-professionals.

December 1, 2016
According to the savvy pediatric-eating disorder clinician team of Koenig and O'Mahoney, the focus should be on how and why rather than what we eat, and the goal should be improved health rather than weight loss. The authors begin by comparing doctors' and patients' complaints and challenges when discussing issues of high weight. Doctors, they claim, may be dealing with issues of weight bias and can be frustrated with a patient's seeming noncompliance. Patients are often oversensitive to lectures and shamed by their failure to get control of their eating. Diets can kill motivation, and self-care may be the key to help dysregulated eaters, who eat when not hungry or already full, to become normal eaters. Each chapter lists specific strategies and has occasional sidebars, called brain food, that list open-ended questions for additional discussion. Although technically aimed at health providers, these insightful suggestions will help both patients and doctors to collaborate more successfully on these issues.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)