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Dietetic management of obesity in Europe: gaps in current practice

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 75, pages 1155–1158 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Despite substantial attention to dietary interventions on the management of obesity, there are no consensus guidelines for dietetic management of obesity in Europe. Two surveys among European dietitians have demonstrated inconsistencies in the approaches recommended within national obesity treatment guidelines. Only a small number of the guidelines include concrete actionable targets for recommended energy deficit, weight loss and weight-loss maintenance. On the other hand, dietitians frequently use 5–15% weight loss as their intervention outcome. However, they fail to monitor changes in body composition beyond weight status and to successfully monitor and prevent weight regain. Europewide guidelines on the dietary treatment of obesity are an overdue requirement for consistent dietetic practice.

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Fig. 1: Current practices followed by European Dietitians for obesity management.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Antonis Vlassopoulos

  2. Department of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Antonis Vlassopoulos & Maria Hassapidou

  3. European Specialist Dietetic Network on Obesity, European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD), Naarden, Netherlands

    Antonis Vlassopoulos, Elisabeth Govers, Hilda Mulrooney, Odysseas Androutsos & Maria Hassapidou

  4. Dutch Knowledge Centre for Dietitians on Obesity, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Elisabeth Govers

  5. Nutrition Working Group, European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), Teddington, UK

    Elisabeth Govers & Maria Hassapidou

  6. Kingston University, London & Obesity Group of the British Dietetic Association, London, UK

    Hilda Mulrooney

  7. Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece

    Odysseas Androutsos

Authors
  1. Antonis Vlassopoulos
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  2. Elisabeth Govers
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  3. Hilda Mulrooney
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  4. Odysseas Androutsos
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  5. Maria Hassapidou
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Contributions

AV and HM wrote the first draft of the manuscript, AV and OA carried out the data analysis, EG carried out data collection, EG and MH conceived the study, all authors reviewed and contributed to the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Hassapidou.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Vlassopoulos, A., Govers, E., Mulrooney, H. et al. Dietetic management of obesity in Europe: gaps in current practice. Eur J Clin Nutr 75, 1155–1158 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00820-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00820-2

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