Obesity Treatment Recommendations in the Philippines: Perspective on their Utility and Implementation in Clinical Practice

Abstract

This article briefly reviews the obesity practice recommendations of the Philippine Association for the Study of Overweight and Obesity (PASOO) and the obesity guidelines of the Family Medicine Research Group (FMRG) of the UP-Philippine General Hospital. The two treatment recommendations showed their focus on the primary care setting and several limitations in the development process. The implementation strategies centered on their dissemination among health care professionals although the PASOO included food and activity pyramid guides useful both as patient educational material and as a treatment tool. In spite of their limitations, both sets of recommendations are valuable resources because they effectively promote obesity awareness in the Philippine setting. However, the current sets of obesity recommendations need to be modified and updated to fulfill important requirements for high-quality recommendations backed by a strong Philippine evidence base. Collaboration among important stakeholders in the prevention and control of obesity and other noncommunicable diseases (NCD) is essential to arrive at an integrated approach to obesity.