General practitioners (GPs) play a crucial role in guiding patients’ health behaviors, including advising on weight loss. GPs have access to a variety of lifestyle, medical, and surgical approaches to weight loss to assist their patients.
We identified 32 distinct types of dietary approaches, with some already included in established guidelines, while others were not. The dietary approaches were categorized into four main categories: quality, quantity, timing, and adherence to guidelines. This classification provides valuable insights into the dietary advice offered by general practitioners (GPs). It is noteworthy that while all the studies covered a wide range of advice pertaining to quality, less than half of them specifically addressed the quantity or the importance of reducing calorie intake, which is considered a crucial aspect of weight loss approaches. This suggests a potential shift in focus towards questions around what to eat rather than solely how much to eat. Recognizing the variety of dietary advice given by GPs to patients for weight control highlights the importance of the need for a more standardized approach in this area. Furthermore, only a limited number of studies reported advice regarding adherence to guidelines and the timing of food intake.
Researchers identified 32 distinct types of dietary approaches, with some already included in established guidelines, while others were not. The dietary approaches were categorized into four main categories: quality, quantity, timing, and adherence to guidelines. This classification provides valuable insights into the dietary advice offered by general practitioners (GPs). It is noteworthy that while all the studies covered a wide range of advice pertaining to quality, less than half of them specifically addressed the quantity or the importance of reducing calorie intake, which is considered a crucial aspect of weight loss approaches. This suggests a potential shift in focus towards questions around what to eat rather than solely how much to eat. Recognizing the variety of dietary advice given by GPs to patients for weight control highlights the importance of the need for a more standardized approach in this area. Furthermore, only a limited number of studies reported advice regarding adherence to guidelines and the timing of food intake.Importantly, our findings suggest that GPs may not always follow the guidelines. One study conducted by Hendrix et al. discovered various recent dietary approaches, including intermittent fasting, the ketogenic diet, the Mediterranean diet, and vegan diets to be frequently advised by GPs, with GPs more likely to advise dietary measures which they had personally found effective. This study reported 14 different approaches, accounting for 50% of all identified weight control approaches [12]. Hendrix’s work provides valuable insights into emerging dietary trends considered by GPs and suggests that some GPs deviate from current dietary guidelines for weight loss. This lack of adherence to current dietary guidelines likely reflects GPs’ uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of these dietary approaches [34]. This may be in response to past failures in helping patients with losing weight when applying current guidelines and could explain why GPs are reluctant to provide weight counseling or do not prioritize this for their patients [34].
Our review also revealed several other obstacles for GPs in providing adequate nutritional advice. Inadequate nutrition training during undergraduate and graduate medical education and a resulting lack of confidence and skills in assisting patients with weight loss were reported by GPs as a significant challenge to providing dietary advice [21,30]. Furthermore, time constraints and patient disinterest in weight loss were identified as additional barriers [28,31]. Enhancing GPs’ perceptions of obesity as a significant medical issue, irrespective of the presence of other chronic diseases, could help prioritize important conversations around weight with overweight patients [34]. The presence of a dietitian as part of the primary care team can alleviate time pressure and ensure that patients receive comprehensive weight-loss support and is frequently much valued by GPs in their practice [35].
Importantly, the findings suggest that GPs may not always follow the guidelines. One study conducted by Hendrix et al. discovered various recent dietary approaches, including intermittent fasting, the ketogenic diet, the Mediterranean diet, and vegan diets to be frequently advised by GPs, with GPs more likely to advise dietary measures which they had personally found effective. 14 different approaches are reported, accounting for 50% of all identified weight control approaches [3]. Hendrix’s work provides valuable insights into emerging dietary trends considered by GPs and suggests that some GPs deviate from current dietary guidelines for weight loss. This lack of adherence to current dietary guidelines likely reflects GPs’ uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of these dietary approaches [16]. This may be in response to past failures in helping patients with losing weight Researchers also revealed several other obstacles for GPs in providing adequate nutritional advice. Inadequate nutrition training during undergraduate and graduate medical education and a resulting lack of confidence and skills in assisting patients with weight loss were reported by GPs as a significant challenge to providing dietary advice [6][10]. Furthermore, time constraints and patient disinterest in weight loss were identified as additional barriers [9][13]. Enhancing GPs’ perceptions of obesity as a significant medical issue, irrespective of the presence of other chronic diseases, could help prioritize important conversations around weight with overweight patients [16]. The presence of a dietitian as part of the primary care team can alleviate time pressure and ensure that patients receive comprehensive weight-loss support and is frequently much valued by GPs in their practice [17].