Cape Breton clinic helping patients deal with causes of obesity

A new clinic in Glace Bay, N.S., is helpinghelp people in Nova Scotia Health's eastern zone manage obesityby using a different tack.

Staff are usinga multi-disciplinary approach that hinges on the idea thatobesity is a chronic disease. They areteaching patients about changing behavioursto manage obesity, abouthealthy eating habits, physical activity, skills-building and other treatments.

Doctor Tony Valente is a family physician in the community who specializes in obesity care. He says the way the medical community has approached obesity has changed in recent years.

"Traditionally, obesity was looked at more as that, 'you need to eat less and move more,'" he said, but there is a shift away from that view.

Changes in the clinical view ofobesity has been key to this, he says,becauseobesity is now widely considered a chronic diseasesimilarto high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

The obesity clinic is unique to the province, Valente says, and is allowing the region to bea leader in finding new ways to treat the disease.

Dr. Faith Dodd is an orthopedic surgeon in Sydney who says the local rate of obesityis quite high.

"The self-reported rate of obesity in Cape Breton was approximately 42 per cent. So that's approaching half of our population," she said. "So if you looked at the pool of people who would be eligible to have help, if they wished to, that's going to be a large percentage of our population."

The clinic includes a nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, dietitian and social worker, Dodd says.

Since it openedin February, more than 300 patients have been referred to the clinic.

Valente says other areas of the country are taking note of the facility's success.

"We're really excited about crunching the numbers, seeing how our patients are doing, and see where we can grow from there."