Top Story: Doctors dealing with childhood obesity are getting trained in empathy at schools

The University of Minnesota is one of few medical schools that teaches students how to use empathy when discussing obesity with patients. Drs. Megan Bensignor, Sarah Raatz (Department of Pediatrics) and Charles Billington (Department of Medicine) spoke to National Public Radio about how physicians should start conversations around obesity.

According to Dr. Billington, most medical schools don’t want to talk about obesity, which contributes to bias seen among physicians. “That simple phrase, you should lose weight, that's as much as they want to deal with it,” he said.

It’s important to acknowledge the influence that biology has on obesity and reassure patients that it’s okay to eat foods like chips and candy sometimes. “I'll be, like, one of my favorite treats is ice cream, too. Like, I try to normalize it because ice cream's delicious. They should be able to have ice cream if they want to have ice cream,” said Dr. Bensignor.

Dr. Raatz advises figuring out what a patient’s goals are and coming up with next steps together. “What are they ready for? Having it be a shared problem-solving experience rather than us just scripting, well, here's your plan,” she said.

See full coverage by National Public Radio.