The American Medical Association produced an adult weight management program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2004. The AMA provided SETMA with the first copies of this program. SETMA took this 220-page, 10-booklet program and fashioned it into an electronic, weight management tool with which to help you achieve good health with weight management. Supplemented by our philosophy and education material, this program is resulting in excellent results for those who are committed to good health.
SETMA's weight management philosophy is stated in Weight Loss -- Medicine, Myths and Magic, which you can read in our Your Life Your Health section. Few subjects are more confused with false information than the incessant concern which Americans have with the ideal, Barbie-doll, body habitus. In addition, weight reduction is big business. Millions of dollars are made every year on the basis of bad information and on the inability of Americans to make good dietary choices which result in unhealthy, excessive weight.
Many "fad" diets make promises which simply contradict the fundamental scientific laws of energy metabolism. Some believe that there are certain kinds of food which require more energy to metabolize than is contained in the food itself. The implied promise is that, just by eating this food, you will lose weight. Think about it, if that were true, if you ate enough of that food, or an excessive amount of that food, you would simply, eventually, disappear. Experience lets us all know that is not true.
Other "fad" diets ignore the simple science of calories and weight gain or loss. Each pound of fat stored in our body contains 3,500 calories of energy. In order to lose one pound of fat, one must either eat 3,500 calories less than is required to maintain one's current weight, or one must use up, with extra activity, 3,500 calories of energy. Walking a mile in about 15 minutes will consume approximately an extra 100 calories.
Calories, food, and weight loss, or gain, are not unlike one's checking account. If you deposit $500 into your checking account, but you write $600 of checks, you will be overdrawn. Likewise, if you need 2200 calories to maintain your present weight, but you eat 2700 calories every day; in seven days, you will gain one pound. However, if you increase your use of calories by walking a mile a day, in one month, you will lose one pound. As can be seen -- and as we all know -- it is easier and faster to gain weight than to lose it.
SETMA's medical weight management program will help you take charge of your health. SETMA's program helps you sort out the myths, the magic and the medicine of weight management. This program will not use dangerous drugs or gimmicks but will give you sound counsel, information and support to achieve your goals safely and healthfully. Safe and effective drugs can be used when indicated. SETMA's program will objective evaluate how much weight you need to lose in order to improve your health and how much you need to lose in order to eliminate weight as a health hazard.
The disease of the century is going to be obesity. The following is a partial list of the health risks of obesity:
- Premature death
- Gout
- Insulin Resistance, Type 2 Diabetes
- Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Hyperlipidemia
- Pregnancy Complications
- Hypertension
- Menstrual Irregularities
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Bladder Control Problems, Stress Incontinence
- Congestive Heart Failure
- Osteoarthritis
- Stroke
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Respiratory Problems
- Infertility
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
- Gallstones, Gallbladder Disease
- Some Types of Cancer (endometrial, colon, kidney, gallbladder, postmenopausal breast cancer)
- Psychological Disorders (e.g., depression, eating disorders, distorted body image, low self-esteem)
In addition:
- Overweight male non-smokers lose 3.1 years of life and women 3.3 years.
- Obese men lose 5.8 years of life and obese women 7.1 years of life.
This program is integral to everything SETMA does in that every patient at SETMA is given a weight-management assessment through SETMA's LESS Initiative. |
