Obesity

Obesity

Causes and Complications
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

Our experts work with each patient to develop a customized weight loss and management plan, which depends on a variety of factors, including your level of obesity, age, overall health condition, commitment and motivation to lose weight. Our goal is to help you adapt and maintain a healthy lifestyle, thus greatly improving your health and quality of life.

Treatment may include a combination of exercise, healthful food patterns and cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as support groups and educational lectures to promote long-term weight loss and management. Research has shown that combining different weight loss and management approaches significantly increases a person's long-term weight management success. We also offer bariatric surgery as a treatment for people who are morbidly obese.

Weight Management Plans:

We offer weight management plans that can be customized to fit your individual needs. These include:

• Step-By-Step Program: This is a comprehensive one-year weight loss program that emphasizes aerobic exercise, healthful food patterns and cognitive behavioral therapy to promote long-term weight loss and management.

• Meal Replacement Program: This is a one-year medically supervised rapid weight loss program utilizing a very low calorie diet comprised of meal replacement bars and shakes. The program also emphasizes regular aerobic exercise, healthful food patterns and cognitive behavioral therapy for long-term weight loss and management.

• Individual Consultations: We offer individual consultations and assessments of nutritional intake, energy balance and lifestyle and/or psychological factors that influence health and weight. Counseling and diet and activity plans are individually tailored to meet patients' goals and everyday realities.

Payment

Payment for the Weight Management Program depends on your health insurance coverage. Call your health insurance company for coverage information and the required referral process. Sessions not covered by insurance plans must be paid in full by the patient.

• Brown & Toland patients require authorization from their regular medical doctor for the UCSF Weight Management Program, provider Dr. Robert Baron, director of the program.

• Medicare patients who have type 2 diabetes or renal failure are covered by their insurance for nutrition sessions with a referral from their medical doctor.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 8, 2007