Is Seeing an Obesity Doctor Better?
A new review article in Obesity Reviews, authored by Arya M. Sharma and colleagues, underscores the complex factors that influence adherence to obesity medications. I would also argue that these principles also apply more broadly to adherence of obesity treatments in general.
Enhancing Weight Management Success: Why Seeing a Qualified Obesity Doctor Improves Adherence and Outcomes
If you’ve been watching the news about weight loss drugs or searching for help with weight loss in Vancouver or online, you’ve probably come across newer weight loss medications such as Semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) or Tirzepatide (Zepbound, Mounjaro). These medications can be incredibly effective tools in helping individuals lose weight and manage obesity long-term.
However, as highlighted in a recent review article published in Obesity Reviews, most people who start these medications do not continue taking them. In fact, it appears that less than 1 in 5 people are still taking them after one year. This is an astoundingly low rate of adherance considering how effective these ‘game changing’ medications are, and how they transformative they are proving to be from a. health perspective.
Below, we’ll dive into what adherence means, why it matters for weight loss, and how consulting a qualified obesity doctor or weight loss doctor can significantly boost your chances of success.
Understanding Medication Adherence
Medication adherence refers to whether patients follow their treatment instructions—taking the correct dose at the correct time, consistently over the recommended period. For many chronic conditions like obesity, proper adherence directly impacts long-term outcomes. The recent narrative review in Obesity Reviews points out that low adherence rates to obesity medications can drastically reduce their effectiveness, just as it does for treatments for diabetes or hypertension.Summary of Determinants of Adherence to Obesity Medication and Foundations for Improvement
In the reviewed sections, the authors emphasize that adherence to obesity medications (OMs) is influenced by multiple overlapping factors involving healthcare systems, healthcare professionals (HCPs), and patients’ own perceptions and environments.
They begin by highlighting how an HCP’s expertise can significantly shape adherence; for instance, patients prescribed glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) by endocrinologists or obesity specialists tend to complete more weeks of treatment than those who receive prescriptions in primary care settings. Additionally, the ACTION IO study is cited to show several barriers facing primary care practitioners, such as limited time in appointments and misconceptions about a patient’s motivation or interest in weight loss.
A key obstacle at the initiation phase is the feeling among some people living with obesity that they are solely responsible for managing their weight, to the point of not feeling deserving of medication. This sense of unworthiness can diminish their confidence in seeking or staying on OMs. The text notes parallels from HIV care, where patients’ belief in their “worthiness” of medication significantly affects adherence levels. Other factors at initiation include stigma around using medication to lose weight, concerns about side effects, or a fear of polypharmacy—especially if the patient is already on multiple prescriptions. Supply chain and cost/reimbursement issues also create practical barriers, potentially delaying or preventing consistent access to treatment.
Once a patient has started an OM, the implementation phase can present additional challenges. Extended titration periods and individual tailoring (e.g., injection schedules, dose timing around meals) can be difficult to manage, especially for those with busy or unpredictable daily routines. Complexity in how OMs must be administered, along with possible family or social factors (e.g., alcohol use or household disorganization), can undermine adherence at this stage.
For persistence, the authors underscore that patients and practitioners sometimes have different outcome targets—patients may be focused on rapid weight loss, while HCPs emphasize long-term health benefits or risk reduction. If a patient perceives that the medication isn’t delivering immediate weight loss, they might stop treatment prematurely. Misunderstanding the chronic nature of obesity, failure to recognize it as legitimate medical condition (bias) or attributing natural plateaus to medication “failure,” further complicates long-term adherence. Intermittent events (such as special occasions where food choices are restricted or monitoring is disrupted) and concerns about long-term safety can also prompt discontinuation.
Building on these barriers, the text identifies a range of strategies to improve adherence. Education and counseling—about both the chronic disease of obesity and the mechanism of OMs—have been shown effective in other chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension) and are promoted as crucial here. The authors note that telehealth, mobile apps, and team-based approaches (including pharmacist-led programs) are promising avenues for boosting both understanding and adherence support. There is also a call for system-level changes: clearer guidelines for prescribing OMs, better insurance coverage or reimbursement solutions, and more robust supply chains to reduce shortages.
Finally, the authors conclude that obesity being chronic and relapsing necessitates consistent, ongoing management. Because non-adherence is notably prevalent—particularly early on—addressing it through a phase-specific approach (initiation, implementation, persistence) with regular physician follow up visits, can be critical for adherence as well as preventing weight regain over the long term. They encourage future interventions and research to focus on detailed, practical steps for helping patients adhere to OMs throughout the entire journey of weight management, from recognizing obesity as a relapsing condition to embracing medications as a legitimate and necessary tool.
If you’re looking for a weight management program or an obesity doctor in Vancouver to guide you through treatment options for weight such as behaviour therapy or medications like Ozempic or Mounjaro, keep in mind that a tailored, long-term approach offered by a ABCD/ Obesity professional may help you address some of the barriers to long term success.
For more insight, check out this article: