The report frames obesity primary care as crucial to ensuring more patients receive help in good time
Hundreds of thousands of Swedes are either undiagnosed or under-treated, according to Sweden’s first national obesity review. The evaluation of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare notes that relatively few people struggling with obesity “receive medication, surgery or lifestyle support,” despite access to effective treatments.
To improve overall Swedish obesity care, the review specifically highlights primary care as crucial to ensuring that more patients receive early help.
“One big concern is that primary care providers do not pay enough attention to patients with obesity, and the fact that obesity could be the underlying cause of other symptoms. It is not a disease that patients can handle themselves, but a chronic one,” Maria State, Deputy Director at the Board’s Department of Analysis, told Euractiv.
Obesity is defined as a condition characterised by a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30, which is associated with a high risk of various other diseases. For adults, it could also mean a two to threefold higher risk of mortality.
