Foreword from the Collection Editor, Focus on obesity
Professor Chen is Editor-in-Chief of Endocrinology Today, a Member of the Medicine Today Board of Honorary Consultants, a Senior Staff Specialist in the Department of Endocrinology at St Vincent’s Hospital and Conjoint Professor at St Vincent’s Clinical School, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
Obesity is one of the most pressing and multifaceted challenges in contemporary healthcare. Affecting almost one in three Australian adults, it carries profound implications for quality of life, mortality and health system burden. This Focus on obesity collection presents a timely and practical overview of the current landscape of obesity management in general practice.
The collection begins with a broad clinical approach to managing obesity in adults, reinforcing the need to treat obesity using a chronic disease model of care and the requirement for long-term, individualised care.
An update on pharmacological advances focusing on the incretin analogues details their impressive efficacy, mechanisms of action and real-world limitations.The management of obesity in the context of common comorbidities is explored in depth, with focused articles on type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, both of which intersect with obesity in complex and clinically significant ways.
Together, these articles aim to equip GPs with up-to-date, evidence-based strategies to support patients across the weight spectrum. By broadening thefocus beyond lifestyle advice alone, this collection reinforces the role of general practice in delivering effective, compassionate and sustainable care for people living with obesity.