Could Your Doctor's Weight Be Affecting Yours?
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Big surprise, if your doctor could stand to lose a few pounds chances are he won't tell you to.
Too many Americans are overweight and researchers have discovered if your doctor is one of them, he won't be counseling patients to diet and exercise as a way to curb such problems as sleep apnea and diabetes. So should you seek out a thinner doctor? Not necessarily, says Dr. Lawrence Kaplan a professor of medicine at Temple University School of Medicine. He says stick with one you like.
"If you have a higher BMI, seeing a physician who looks lean and actually runs marathons, that may be something that's so totally unattainable in that person's mindset. 'It's easy for you to tell me to exercise, probably never struggled with your weight at all.'"
Ninety-three percent of normal weight doctors would write down that a patient was overweight, but only seven percent of obese physicians make notation.
