New Dietary and Counseling Guidelines Recommended for Overweight Americans with Heart Problems

Overweight or obese individuals are at an increased risk for numerous health issues, including various cardiovascular problems.

Now, the United States Preventive Services Task Force has recently issued new guidelines for overweight adults with an increased risk of developing heart conditions. Health officials recommend that they receive preventive care as well as counseling on diet and exercise.

Adults who may be at a greater risk include anyone who is overweight and has at least one heart disease factor, including but not limited to high blood pressure or cholesterol. Health officials recommend that doctors should offer certain at-risk approaches for individuals dealing with these and related health issues.

"Just talking with your doctor is good. But it's probably not sufficient. But we don't want to be too draconian," said task force member Susan Curry, dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health according to Health Day. "We're not saying it has to be a certain number of sessions."

The recommendations were written after experts reviewed nearly 74 clinical trials that examined the effects of programing that combined diet and exercise. Trial participants attended five to 16 one-on-one sessions throughout the span of nine months to a year and found that many who attended regular sessions showed reduced risk of getting type 2 diabetes by as much as 42 percent.

"On average we're talking about a few milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood or a couple of millimeters of Mercury decrease in blood pressure," said lead study author Dr. Jennifer S. Lin of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore. "We're calling that a modest benefit applied to a population but even these modest benefits translate into health outcomes that patients can actually feel."

More information regarding the recommendations can be found via the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.