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Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, Children and Adolescents

The Australian Government through the Department of Health and Ageing has commissioned the NHMRC to review the 2003 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, Children and Adolescents (the Guideline).

Alongside the review of the current Guideline, the Department of Health and Ageing are developing a Healthy Weight Guide to provide consumers with advice on how to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. This Guide will be based on the evidence collated for the Clinical Practice Guideline, and other recent literature reviews.

Purpose

The revised Guideline will provide detailed evidence based recommendations for assessing and managing overweight and obesity in adults, children and adolescents. The Guideline will also highlight health risks associated with overweight and obesity, aiming to improve health outcomes for people with chronic disease through evidence based clinical practice.

Scope

The Guideline makes recommendations regarding the management of individuals who have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25.0 m/kg2 and are at risk of an obesity related co-morbidity or currently have at least one co-morbidity.

Target audience

This Guideline is intended for use by general practitioners, general practice nurses, primary care health professionals and allied health professionals.

Guideline development process

A multidisciplinary committee will be responsible for developing the guideline recommendations. The guideline development process will be undertaken in accordance with the Procedures and Requirements for meeting the 2011 NHMRC Standard for Clinical Practice Guidelines (the 2011 NHMRC Standard) which will involve a review of existing evidence. Where evidence is lacking, expert opinion will be sought and recommendations will be made using a consensus based process.

Consultation during guideline development process

From April to June 2011, potential users of the revised clinical practice guidelines were surveyed to identify barriers and enablers clinicians encounter when managing overweight and obesity. Preliminary results of the survey are available below. A full report will be provided during public consultation for the revised clinical practice guidelines.

Overweight and Obesity in Adults, Children and Adolescents Clinical Practice Guideline Development Committee

In November 2010, the NHRMC established a multidisciplinary Steering Committee to oversee the development of the Guideline.

Name

Organisation

Prof Michael Frommer
Committee chair

Assoc Dean (Teaching & Learning)

Professor, School of Public Health

The University of Sydney

Dr Dale Ford

Medical Director
Otway Division of General Practice, VIC

Board Member
Australian Primary Care Collaborative Advisory Committee

Dr Tammy Kimpton

General Practitioner
Scone Medical Practice, NSW

Board Member
Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association

Prof Mark Harris

Professor of General Practice
Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity

University of New South Wales
Member Quality Committee

Royal Australian College of General Practice

Ms Kay Gibbons

Head of Nutrition Services
Royal Children’s Hospital, VIC

Fellow
Dietitians Association of Australia

Mrs Marion Goodman

 

 

Practice Nurse
Barton Lane Practice, NSW

Member
Australian Practice Nurses Association

Ms Helen Mikolaj

Consumer Representative
Member
SA Consumer Health Forum

Prof Joseph Proietto

Professor of Medicine
Austin Health
University of Melbourne

Director
Weight Control Clinic
Austin Health

Prof Ian Caterson AM

Boden Professor of Human Nutrition
Director Institute of Obesity, Nutrition & Exercise
University of Sydney

Dr George Hopkins

Laparoscopic, General & Obesity Surgeon
Brisbane Gastric Banding Centre, QLD

Fellow
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Obesity Surgery Society of Australia & New Zealand

Dr Matt Sabin

Paediatric Endocrinologist
Royal Children’s Hospital
Murdoch Children’s Institute for Research, VIC

Dr Susan Byrne

Specialist Clinical Psychologist
Centre Clinical Interventions (CCI) Eating Disorders Programme, WA

Staff

Name

Organisation

Ms Stephanie Goodrick

Research Scientist
NHMRC

Ms Amy Goodwin

Project Officer
NHMRC

Timeline

The guideline is expected to be completed by mid 2012.

Public consultation

Public Consultation on the draft Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, Children and Adolescents opened on 29 March 2012.

To view the draft guideline and make a submission, visit the NHMRC Public Consultation website.

All submissions will be considered by the development committee before the release of the final Guideline.

Contact details

For further information:

email:

obesityguidelines@nhmrc.gov.au

phone:

(03) 8866 0400

 

Page reviewed: 29 March, 2012