California Doctors, Insurers Mount Efforts To Combat Obesity

On Tuesday, the California Medical Association Foundation and the California Association of Health Plans began distributing three toolkits to physicians that advise patients to eat sensibly and exercise, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Chris Ohman, CEO of CAHP, said the toolkits were in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) call for state community organizations, companies and health plans to work to address obesity in California.

Francisco Prieto, a past president of the Sacramento-Sierra chapter of the American Diabetes Association, said the toolkits do not contain new material but are designed to help "fight the obesity epidemic."

California has reported the fastest increase of adult obesity nationwide, although fewer than 30% of overweight patients report their physicians counseling them about their weight, the Bee reports.

Ohman placed the "direct and indirect cost" of obesity for California at $28.5 billion annually (Rojas, Sacramento Bee, 3/26).

Broadcast Coverage

Capital Public Radio's "KXJZ News" on Wednesday reported on the toolkits.

The segment includes comments from Tom Hopkins, a physician who treats obese patients at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento (Weiss, "KXJZ News," Capital Public Radio, 3/26).

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