Obesity, or excessive body weight, involves much more than your appearance and self-esteem. It increases your risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, joint problems, and many other health conditions. You’re considered obese if your body mass index (BMI) is more than 30 — calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared.

You gain weight when you consume more calories than you need, which your body stores as fat. But, the reasons for weight gain aren’t as straightforward. Your body weight is influenced by many things, such as lifestyle choices, genetics, and emotions. Medical conditions like hormone imbalances, pituitary problems or thyroid disorders — or medicines like steroids, beta blockers, or antidepressants may also contribute to weight gain and obesity.

Losing weight can be difficult and frustrating, particularly when you have a lot of weight to lose. You don’t have to do it alone. University of Miami Health System offers comprehensive care to help you achieve a healthy weight. Our specialists determine the cause of your weight gain and design a personalized treatment plan that improves your health, confidence, and well-being.

Tests

Physical Examination
A physical exam includes a health history, checking your vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure, calculating your BMI, and measuring waist circumference. This information helps your doctor discover underlying medical causes of weight gain, determine your health risks, and discuss how much weight you need to lose.

Blood Tests
Your doctor may use blood tests to check hormone levels, thyroid function, cholesterol, blood glucose levels, and others.

Treatments

Dietary Changes
All weight-loss programs include a healthy eating component. Your care team will design a special diet plan for you to follow. Dietitians and nutritional educators help you learn about proper nutrition and habits that can help you keep the weight off long term.

Lifestyle Changes
Your program will include education to help you incorporate healthy behaviors into your lifestyle, such as how to make good food choices, exercise regularly, and overcome personal weight-loss challenges. We offer support groups, classes, and behavioral counseling to help. Your care team will help you find the resources you need.

Medicines
Doctors sometimes prescribe medicine to help you lose weight.

Weight-Loss Surgery
If you're more than 100 pounds overweight or you have multiple health risks, your doctor may recommend weight-loss surgery (bariatric surgery). University of Miami Health System is nationally recognized for its weight-loss program. Our bariatric surgeons are leaders in weight-loss surgery and use the latest, proven surgical techniques.

Why Choose UHealth?

Personalized treatment to help you lose weight. We determine the cause of your weight gain to help develop an individualized treatment plan. Our experts learn about your lifestyle and what’s important to you to develop a program that gives you the best possible results. We combine medical care, support, and education to help you lose the weight and keep it off.

A comprehensive, team approach. Our endocrinologists work closely with primary care doctors, bariatric surgeons, dietitians, behavioral health counselors, exercise specialists, weight-loss educators, and other specialists to provide complete care. Whether your weight gain is caused by a medical condition or it’s related to your lifestyle, you have access to a full range of specialists in a single, integrated health system.

The latest, research-backed treatments. As an academic medical center, we leverage the latest research completed by the nationally recognized University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to offer the latest treatments. You benefit from medical advancements before they’re widely available, provided by leading medical experts. It’s comforting to know you’re working with a team that’s on the leading edge of obesity treatment and hormonal disorders.