According to the CDC, obesity affects more than 40 percent of the American population. Bay Pines VA recognizes the long-term effects obesity plays on Veterans, which is why there are multiple VA programs to help them combat obesity through weight management, like the MOVE! Weight Management Program.
MOVE! assists Veterans with achieving meaningful weight loss to help improve their health and reduce their risk for chronic health conditions. It features a comprehensive lifestyle intervention that helps support changes to their eating habits, an increase in physical activity and goal setting.
“We offer one-on-one dietitian services with every Primary Care Aligned Care Team,” said VA dietitian Sadie Baird. “This approach gives the Veteran a more customizable goal for weight management. We also have our MOVE! Weight Management Program.”
Going beyond telling people what to eat
Baird continued: “MOVE! has two programs. The first one is a 16-week program that is dietitian led, and they meet once a week for about an hour with a group of Veterans. The discussions go beyond telling people what to eat; it addresses the barriers to meeting their goals while also setting goals that are realistic.
“The second one is a TeleMove! program, which is facilitated at the Veteran’s own pace. They work one-on-one with a TeleMOVE! coach. Veterans are asked to weigh themselves every day and answer a series of questions to gauge participation.”
Maintaining a healthy weight could help Veterans feel better and have more energy. It could also help prevent or mange chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, heart disease, gallbladder disease, arthritis, sleep apnea and some types of cancer.
Weight loss may see medications reduced or removed
“There are lots of benefits to getting your weight down. A big driver for many Veterans is that they are frustrated with the number of medications they have to take. It is not uncommon when it comes to weight loss to see some of those medications reduced or removed all together,” Baird added. “All of our appointments are self-scheduled. All you have to do is call your local VA clinic and tell them you would like to schedule an appointment with nutrition or dietitian. If the Veteran does not want to do that, they can always talk to their primary care doctor for a referral.”
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