DOCTORS don’t weigh three out of four patients even though obesity has become a national epidemic and new national guidelines require weight monitoring.

A study of more than 270,000 patients between 2011 and 2013 found just 22.2 per cent had their weight recorded by their GP and only 4.3 per cent had their waist circumference measured.

Doctors had problems identifying obesity, difficulty discussing it with patients and did not have appropriate training to manage it, researchers say in the Medical Journal Australia.

Obesity Australia has expressed alarm at the findings.

“GPs are busy but given the tsunami of obesity, 27 per cent of Australians aged over 18, it’s very important doctors do measure,” Obesity Australia spokesman Professor John Funder said.

Professor Funder says in Japan every doctor’s waiting room had a set of scales that electronically recorded the patients weight, a similar scheme in Australia could save GPs time, he said.

The latest national health survey found 62.8 per cent of Australian adults were overweight or obese and there have been calls for obesity to be labelled a disease.

A recent US study found severe obesity can slash 13 years off a person’s life.

Overweight and obesity is also linked to increased risk of coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, endometrial cancer, breast and bowel cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, liver disease and infertility.

The nation’s peak medical research body the National Health and Medical Research Council released clinical guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity in December 2013.

They require doctors to “routinely assess and monitor” the BMI of their patients and also measure their waist circumference.

Doctors are required to talk to their overweight patients if their BMI is increasing and identify local programs that can benefit the patient.

For the obese, doctors are required to set up a weight loss program and review and monitor the patient’s weight long term.

Dr Lyle Turner conducted the study in a number of general practices in inner east Melbourne to determine current GP practice in weight monitoring before the new NHMRC guidelines commenced.

“We weren’t surprised at the results because this has been an issue that has been flagged but there had been a problem collecting any data,” he said.

The study found women were less likely to have their measures of obesity documented while patients with diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol were more likely to have a documented BMI.

“Primary health care, generally the first point of contact for people seeking health services, has been identified as a good environment for implementing strategies for preventing and managing obesity,” the researchers wrote.

“To improve the quality of patient care, GPs should be supported to increase levels of obesity screening in accordance with NHMRC guidelines, the study says.

Even small amounts of weight loss, five to 10 per cent, could make a big difference to a patient’s health and reduce their risk of diabetes, Professor Funder said.

NHMRC GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY

For adults:

1. Measure waist circumference in addition to calculating BMI

2. Discuss readiness to change lifestyle behaviours

3. Convey the message that even small amounts of weight loss improve health and wellbeing

4. Use multicomponent approaches — these work better than single interventions

5. Refer appropriately to assist people to make lifestyle changes or for further intervention

6. Support a self-management approach and provide ongoing monitoring

For children and adolescents:

1. Use percentile charts to monitor growth

2. Promote physical activity, dietary modification and healthy behaviours to families 3. Encourage healthy behaviours such as drinking water and reducing screen time

4. Aim for weight maintenance — this is an acceptable goal

5. Know when to refer