Perceptions of Anti-obesity Medications among Spanish Personal Trainers

Interesante.

Consulta el artículo original en:

http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/OBES/2013/869089/869089.pdf

Abstract 

Physical activity, nutrition, and drug therapy are all important tools in this fight against
premature illness and mortality in obesity population. Sometimes drug treatment for this
epidemic is an often overlooked tool, although it may be an important option. The perception
that personal trainers have about the effects of anti-obesity drugs may influence directly in the
decision to use it in the obese population to lose weight. The objective of this article is to assess
the perceptions of personal trainers regarding the use of obesity-fighting medications in
addition to diet and exercise and compare with an American sample. A questionnaire based in a
7-point scale was administered to 31 experienced personal trainers in Spain who currently had
obese clients (classified by OMS´values for BMI≥ 30 Kg/m2). The results show 87% of the
personal trainers who responded knew of at least one anti-obesity product, and only one third
of them had customers undergoing drug treatment. The personal trainers perceived the
importance of physical exercise as high (6.65), and they perceived the importance of drug
treatment as comparatively low (3.13). They rated the importance of their own role in the
battle against obesity as low (2.77), and believed that more education was required to better
serve their obese clients (6.35). This data shows the need for greater training and education
among personal trainers about weight loss strategies, anti-obesity medications, and physical
exercise interventions. This situation needs to be addressed by private professional academies
in their personal training courses.

Keywords: Body mass index, exercise, obesity, behavior, personal trainer.