The average American is now 23 pounds overweight. In fact, people who are obese spend almost $1,500 more each year on health care — about 41 percent more than an average-weight person. Beyond those costs are the disability and early deaths caused by obesity. Obesity is the driver of so many chronic conditions — heart disease, diabetes, cancer — that greatly affect health and quality of life.
To raise local awareness of these issues and offer ways to address them, Sansum Clinic is celebrating January as Health Weight Month with special initiatives throughout its 23 locations to help patients reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Sansum Clinic encourages people to talk to their doctor about steps to take toward achieving healthy weight. The clinic offers a broad range of options and programs for achieving a healthy lifestyle no matter one’s weight loss goals — from group classes or one-on-one meetings with health educators and nutritionists to the Doctors’ Weight Management Program or bariatric surgery.
Sansum Clinic Programs and Services
» Health Education Programs: Health Education Programs are taught by professionals, include take-home materials and are available on an ongoing basis. They are free of charge or low cost and are open to the community.
» Nutrition Counseling and Personalized Programs: The Sansum Clinic Nutrition Department offers comprehensive nutrition services and diabetes education at our multispecialty locations in Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Lompoc.
» Physical Therapy and Fitness Training: The Sansum Clinic Physical Therapy Department works closely with patients in four locations in the Santa Barbara and Lompoc area to improve function and quality of life even following an injury or illness affecting their physical well-being.
» The Doctors’ Weight Management Program: Doctors’ Weight Management Program (DWMP) is a medically supervised behavioral weight management program that addresses obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes (and pre-diabetes), metabolic syndrome, joint pain and other illnesses and conditions associated with weight management and obesity.
» Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence: The Sansum Clinic Bariatric Surgery program has been designated as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence® by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and was created to respond to the growing number of patients seeking to fight obesity and related chronic disease. Our providers offer integrated treatment through dietary, medical, surgical and educational intervention has contributed to patients’ success.
Click here for more information, or visit the Health Resource Center. It’s free and open to the community. Drop by the Health Resource Center for reliable answers to health questions in a private, comfortable place with trained staff. Browse the Internet, books, newsletters and videos on health. Get community resource information and registration for health programs.
The Health Resource Center is located at 215 Pesetas Lane in Santa Barbara on the first floor across from the lab. Call 805.681.7672 or visit us online to “Ask a Librarian” about health-care-related questions.
If you are looking for a speaker to address weight management issues, please contact Jill Fonte at 805.681.1879 of .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
— Jill Fonte is the director of marketing for Sansum Clinic.
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