More than with most other medical conditions, the patient must take the lead role in managing the problem of obesity. While the physician's support can help tremendously, only the patient can make the daily lifestyle choices critical to success with this condition.

These tools can help your patients achieve a firm grounding in the facts about obesity and help empower them to manage it.

A layperson's guide to the medical terminology related to obesity.

Basic introduction for adult patients to the problem of obesity.

What to do if a child is obese.

An underlying problem might be "binge eating."

Whether your patient is cooking at home or eating out, here are helpful guidelines to ensure the calories and nutrition stay on track.

Advice on how to set up a sustainable physical activity program.

BCBSIL members can visit the www.bcbsil.com website to find a number of resources for weight management.

Is Bariatric surgery the right answer for your patients? This half-hour interactive Web tool provides useful information to help make this important decision.

*Not available to all members. Contact Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Member Services for more information. Members can access obesity information and the Health Risk Assessmebnt via Blue Access for Members^SM.