Clinic to Treat Obesity in Adults and Children

CHENNAI: Apollo Speciality Hospitals, OMR launched an Obesity and Metabolic Rehabilitation Clinic recently, to provide a better weight management regimen for the obese.

The clinic will offer weight management regimens for children and as well as adults. ”We are located in the IT-corridor zone and have treated several obesity cases since the launch of the hospital in February this year. We thought we should launch a specialised clinic for the same, looking at the number of cases,” said Dr Usha Ayyagari, Endocrinologist of the hospital.

“We don’t just treat the patients, but also provide suggestions on how to manage obesity by themselves, unlike many other obesity clinics,” she added and  said that 25 per cent of people in India are overweight of which nine per cent are morbidly obese, which amounts to staggering 2.5 million.

Saying that shedding 10 to 15 kilos in a month is not advisable and it will lead to other health conditions, Dr Usha said only three per cent reduction from one’s original weight is healthy, and again it varies between normal persons to people who already have other health complications.

Dr George Noel Fernandes, vice president and Medical Director of the hospital said that, of the 150 cases the hospital treats everyday, three in every 10 cases are overweight. Lifestyle changes and genetic reasons, are the factors behind obesity. The clinic will have a dedicated team of seven specialists including a dietician, an endocrinologist, a general  physician and a physiotherapist. The facility was inaugurated jointly by the management team of Apollo Hospitals, OMR.