%0 Journal Article %T Obesity communication among patients by health professionals: Findings from the Weight Care Project %A S. Anne Moorhead %A Vivien E. Coates %A Alison M. Gallagher %A Geraldine Nolan %A Kathy Murphy %A Diane E. Hazlett %J Health %P 100-109 %@ 1949-5005 %D 2013 %I Scientific Research Publishing %R 10.4236/health.2013.58A3015 %X Obesity is on the increase worldwide and is a major global public health problem. In an increasingly obesogenic environment, it¡¯s important that health professionals are equipped to identify and address obesity issues within their clinical practice. As part of the Weight Care Project, the aim of this study was to explore the obesity-related communication issues for primary care and community-based health professionals. The study design was a quantitative survey, which was completed by 382 primary care and community-based health professionals across Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland working with adults and children. Key findings included that the majority of the health professionals (86%) recognized having a role in giving obesity advice, acknowledged that in clinical practice communication of obesity messages is both complex and challenging (81%), and reported difficulty in sensitively addressing obesity issues (27%). The health professionals surveyed stated that they communicate obesity messages to their patients using a range of different methods, mainly verbally to individuals, leaflets and factsheets. Numerous benefits of communicating obesity messages were reported; the main one was interacting with patients to build trust. Identified barriers to commu