{"id":191645,"date":"2025-12-14T17:30:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T17:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/191645\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T17:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T17:30:19","slug":"no-one-time-treatment-for-obesity-medical-expert-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/191645\/","title":{"rendered":"No one-time treatment for obesity, medical expert says"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lee I-chia \/ Staff reporter<\/p>\n

Obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care, so people should not expect a one-time treatment through medication, the Taiwan Medical Association for the Study of Obesity said yesterday, as it released the 2025 Clinical Practice Guidelines on Adult Obesity in Taiwan. <\/p>\n

The clinical practice guidelines were announced at the 25th annual congress of the association in conjunction with the 9th Japan-Korea-Taiwan Symposium on Obesity at National Taiwan University Hospital\u2019s International Convention Center in Taipei. <\/p>\n

The association said the new guidelines align with the WHO\u2019s latest fact sheet on obesity and its global guidelines on the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies in treating obesity, issued earlier this month. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: CNA<\/p>\n

Association president Lin Wen-yuan (\u6797\u6587\u5143) said the WHO\u2019s new guidelines recognize that obesity is \u201ca chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care,\u201d and that GLP-1 therapies might be used by adults for the long-term treatment of obesity, adding that it also stressed that medication alone could not reverse the serious health challenge. <\/p>\n

The WHO classifies obesity as \u201ca chronic, relapsing disease arising from complex interactions between genetics, neurobiology, eating behaviors, access to healthy diet, market forces and the broader environment.\u201d <\/p>\n

GLP-1 therapies could support people in overcoming obesity, as \u201ca part of a comprehensive approach that includes healthy diets, regular physical activity and support from health professionals,\u201d the WHO says. <\/p>\n

Lin said the 2025 Clinical Practice Guidelines on Adult Obesity in Taiwan redefined obesity \u2014 not only looking at a person\u2019s body mass index (BMI), but also their waist circumference, body composition and metabolic risks \u2014 allowing the diagnosis to be more refined. <\/p>\n

The guidelines also added more diversity to the recommended treatment of obesity, including lifestyle adjustments, nutrition intake and regular physical activity plans, mental support, medications (including GLP-1 therapies), endoscopic bariatric therapy, and bariatric surgery, he said. <\/p>\n

Moreover, the guidelines provide more customized care recommendations for different groups of people with obesity, including elderly people, pregnant women or women going through menopause, he said. <\/p>\n

They also emphasize patient-centric treatment with empathetic communication, while refusing stigmatization, he said. <\/p>\n

The WHO defines obesity as having a BMI of 30 or higher in adults, and Taiwan\u2019s guidelines define it as a BMI of 27 or higher. <\/p>\n

Association secretary-general Kao Hsiang-han (\u9ad8\u6e58\u6db5) said according to the new guidelines, people with a BMI of 27 or higher, along with at least one comorbidity, are eligible for GLP-1 therapy, while people with a BMI of 24 to 27 are overweight, meaning that they are advised to first receive lifestyle intervention for several months before considering the use of GLP-1 therapies. <\/p>\n

However, Lin said the association has also observed abusive use of GLP-1 therapies, such as being used by people who are not obese or excessive use, which could cause health risks including substantial muscle loss. <\/p>\n

People should only receive GLP-1 therapies prescribed and monitored by health professionals, he added. <\/p>\n

Additional reporting by CNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Lee I-chia \/ Staff reporter Obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60,9889,9888],"class_list":["post-191645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-the-taipei-times","tag-9888"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}