Local Physician Encourages Healthy Loss of Pandemic Pounds
5/12/2021
Study finds average weight gain of 1.5 pounds a month during pandemic
As the days get longer and more of our community is opening up, a local physician is encouraging his patients to reverse the extra pounds they may have added over the past year of the pandemic. Dr. Richard Bang, a family medicine provider with Laredo Physician Associates, says it’s a great time to get back on track with healthy habits and shed that extra weight.
“From disrupted routines and increased stress levels to many other uncertainties in between, the COVID-19 pandemic has created many changes to our way of living that may have caused some of us to put on a few pounds,” said Dr. Bang. “But it doesn’t have to remain that way. It’s important to do something now to reverse those weight gains for the benefit of your long-term health.”
A recent study by the University of California, San Francisco confirmed what many of our scales and wardrobes have already shown us – lower activity levels and increased snacking and overeating have added up, and not for the better. The study found significant increases in weight of roughly a pound and a half gained per month following the shelter in place orders of last spring.
Even before the pandemic, CDC data from 2017-2018 showed that 30-35% of the adults in Texas had obesity. Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher; obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or higher.
Extra pounds can increase your risk for many serious diseases and health conditions that are some of the leading causes of preventable, premature death. Overweight can lead to high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, high blood cholesterol, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, many types of cancer and other concerns.
“It’s important to increase your activity levels and follow a healthy diet under the medical advice of your primary care physician to review your personal situation and be able to establish a healthy plan to lose weight,” said Dr. Bang.
According to the National Institutes of Health, strategies for weight loss and weight maintenance include dietary changes, physical activity, behavior therapy, pharmacotherapy and surgery. Your primary care physician can help you determine what course of action can support your health objectives.
Dr. Bang’s practice has put a number of precautions in place to ensure a safe environment for your appointment. These include limiting the number of patients in the waiting room, scheduling well-visits in the morning and ill visits for the afternoon, telehealth consults, masking of all patients and providers, checking temperature of all clinic visitors, screening clinic staff multiple times during the shift, asking that that only the patient comes in, and enhanced cleaning of commonly touched surfaces.
If you need help finding a primary care physician in person or virtually via telehealth, visit www.laredophysicianassociates.com or call the office of Dr. Bang at (956) 796-4990.
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