What is Adult Weight Management

What is Adult Weight Management?

“Weight Management” addresses an individual’s weight benchmarks in relation to their impact on identified health and/or quality of life concerns. Just as we manage our family finances by being aware, weight management is about awareness of eating and activity habits which contribute to maintaining a weight that supports the health of an individual. Weight management focuses on the individual, their lived experiences, and their health goals. Weight management practitioners work with individuals to establish healthy lifestyle behaviors by identifying internal cues for hunger and fullness, external drivers to eat, and the person’s income, education, culture and access to services. While the topic of weight also encompasses underweight, the focus here will be on healthy weight, overweight and obesity in adults.

Why is it Important to Health? 
Overweight and obesity, defined as conditions of excessive fat deposit1, increase health risks ranging from several types of cancer to sleep apnea, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. Virtually every system in the body is affected by obesity. These diseases impact quality of life and have a financial impact on health care. A treatment plan should focus on the overall health of the client including other health issues they are managing. Successful health-related behavior change helps the client increase self-confidence, self-esteem, and energy while achieving the quality of life that they desire.
Access to care for people with chronic diseases is a priority for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Click here to read the joint statement published with other healthcare organizations.

Weight Bias 
Weight bias has no place in weight management. When clients seek the help of a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) to achieve a healthy weight, they expect focused, unbiased care. Providing information on the role of weight in overall health is not weight bias; it is providing information to a client to help them decide if and how they want to manage their weight. In providing care for those who want help with weight management, practitioners must understand their client’s goals and discuss with them expected outcomes related to weight change and benefits to health.

Approach to Practice 
As the recent Standard of Practice (SOP) for registered dietitians in adult weight management states – “The adult weight management Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) is responsible for providing a psychologically safe, accessible, and respectful setting and empowering care to those seeking nutrition services. This requires the RDN to act as an advocate by proactively seeking to identify personal and external weight biases, understanding the impact of those predispositions, and acknowledging how weight-related prejudices are intricately connected with systems that impact nutrition both inside and outside of health care.2 
A treatment plan should be collaborative using shared decision making and focus on the overall health of the client, other health issues they are managing, and their readiness to change. A discussion of realistic goals can provide the foundation for a success-oriented plan.
Use of the following practice guidelines is encouraged:
  • Ask what your client would like to do and how you can be of help. 
  • Assess your client’s goals, considering their health status and their desire/ability to make changes. 
  • Advise the client, using people first language, on how weight can be a contributor to health risks, and how weight can be a part their overall goals in meeting with you. 
  • Agree on a plan that is guided by the client’s needs, set steps to move forward based on the client’s expectations and how these changes fit into their overall life. 
  • Assist the client as they move forward in the way they ask you to help, help them find support networks if they request help. 
  • Arrange to help clients find the resources they need.3,4
The WM DPG website (www.wmdpg.org) provides a variety of resources, including webinars and Quick Guides, to aid members in their practice.
Are you looking for a registered dietitian who specializes in weight management? Click on “Find a Nutrition Expert” at eatright.org to search for an in-person or telehealth nutrition expert.  

References:

  1. World Health Organization. Obesity and Overweight. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight. Accessed March 14, 2025.
  2. Tewksbury C, Nwankwo R, Peterson J. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Revised 2022 Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Performance for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (Competent, Proficient, and Expert) in Adult Weight Management. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2022; 122(10): 1940 -1953. doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2022.06.008
  3. Obesity Canada. 5As. https://obesitycanada.ca/understanding-obesity/5-facts/ Accessed December 9, 2024
  4. Gallagher C, Corl A, Dietz WH. Weight Can't Wait: A Guide to Discussing Obesity and Organizing Treatment in the Primary Care Setting. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 May;29(5):821-824. doi: 10.1002/oby.23154. PMID: 33899338. Accessed December 9, 2024