CommonHealth: Why One Doctor Has Stopped Telling Her Patients To Lose Weight

Here's is a regular experience for the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight or obese: You go in for your checkup and your doctor says you need to lose some weight.

But Dr. Elissa Poorman, a primary care doctor in Everett who works for the Cambridge Health Alliance, says she's not doing that anymore. Because that five-minute nag you get from your doctor almost never helps, according to some research.

Carey Goldberg is the editor of WBUR's CommonHealth blog. She tweets @CommonHealth.