Overweight women are more likely to don their ladies fitness clothing and exercise if their doctor speaks to them in a motivational way as opposed to in a confrontational manner, a study has suggested.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center recorded the conversations between 40 doctors and 461 overweight or obese patients over an 18-month period.

The investigators found that, on average, physicians spent about 3.5 minutes talking about diet and weight loss with their patients.

They also discovered that patients who visited doctors who used predominantly reflective or empathic statements were much more likely to lose weight than those whose physicians had a more judgmental or confrontational style.

"Patients don't like to be told what to do," said lead author of the study Dr Kathryn Pollak, a member of the Cancer Prevention Program at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Last month, a spokeswoman for Slimming World said that overweight people are most successful in losing weight when they do so for themselves, using their increasing body confidence and improving health as the motivation.

Posted by Sue Wallis ADNFCR-2569-ID-800101408-ADNFCR

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