Health professionals look inward to tackle obesity

At the University of Maryland Medical Center, staff are promoting a "Step Up to Good Health" program that includes promoting regular walks and "biggest loser" contests, making it easier for staff to bike to work, and encouraging staff to visit a Tuesday farmer's market outside the hospital for fresh fruit and vegetables, said Christine Byerly, a registered nurse there. A study the Hopkins students cited as a foundation for the Patient Promise shows the value of such behaviors benefits more than medical staff. Published in the research journal Obesity in January, the research found that physicians were more likely to initiate a weight loss conversation with a patient if the physician weighed no more, or less, than the patient.