Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
  • Listen to CMAJ podcasts
Letters

Obesity registers

Gina Agarwal
CMAJ January 02, 2007 176 (1) 65-65-a; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1060166
Gina Agarwal
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
  • © 2006 CMA Media Inc. or its licensors

Given the health risks associated with obesity, especially the increased potential for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, we should consider obesity to be a chronic disease and should treat it as such. Many Canadian family physicians have already set up chronic disease registers; an obesity register could be set up without too much difficulty in every practice that has an electronic medical record system.

In the United Kingdom, general practitioners are being taught how to set up obesity registers in their own practices (for patients over 16 years of age who have had a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m2 for 15 months) and receive remuneration for doing so.1,2 Canada could learn from this initiative.

However, it is debatable whether an obesity register should be based upon the body mass index or upon the ratio of waist and hip circumference. The former is simple to calculate from height and weight measurements, which can quickly be taken by an office assistant or nurse. The waist and hip circumferences require accurate measurements at precise locations. Most people know their height and weight but not their waist and hip circumferences. However, the ratio of waist and hip circumference is the strongest predictor of future cardiovascular disease.3

There has been little primary care research focusing on identifying and managing the care of obese Canadian.4 Encouraging family physicians to keep obesity registers would initiate a process whereby patients could be identified for practical assistance and future studies. The primary care community needs to start formalizing a process for setting up obesity registers in family practices, before the problem starts to outweigh the solution.

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    Haslam D. Weighing up the danger: obesity in the context of cardiovascular risk. The New Generalist 2006;4:21-2.
    OpenUrl
  2. 2.↵
    New GP contract Q&O framework implementation: dataset and business rules. Obesity indicator set. London (UK): Department of Health. Available: www.pcc.nhs.uk/uploads/QOF/business_rules_june_06/obesity_ruleset_r4_v8.5.pdf (accessed 14 Nov 2006).
  3. 3.↵
    Merchant A, Yusuf S, Sharma AM. A cardiologist's guide to waist management. Heart 2006;92:865-6.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  4. 4.↵
    Sokar-Todd HB, Sharma AM. Obesity research in Canada: literature overview of the last 3 decades. Obes Res 2004;12:1547-53.
    OpenUrlPubMed
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 176 (1)
CMAJ
Vol. 176, Issue 1
2 Jan 2007
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
  • Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter (p 125-132)

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Obesity registers
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Obesity registers
Gina Agarwal
CMAJ Jan 2007, 176 (1) 65-65-a; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1060166

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Obesity registers
Gina Agarwal
CMAJ Jan 2007, 176 (1) 65-65-a; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1060166
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The 5 Ps need an update: toward a comprehensive sexual history
  • Don’t ignore perimenopause
  • Hospital-at-home programs in Canada: challenges and pitfalls
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: [email protected]

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire