Table 1.

Summary of Select Task Force Recommendations and Grade Definitions^17-20.

Population	Recommendation	Intervention
Screening for and management of obesity in adults
Adults 18 years and older	Screen for obesity. Patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or higher should be offered or referred to intensive, multicomponent behavioral interventions. (Grade B)	Intensive, multicomponent behavioral interventions for obese adults include the following components: Behavioral management activities, such as setting weight-loss goals Improving diet or nutrition and increasing physical activity Addressing barriers to change Self-monitoring Strategizing how to maintain lifestyle changes
Screening for obesity in children and adolescents
Children 6 years and older	Screen children ages 6 years and older for obesity. Offer or refer for intensive counseling and behavioral interventions. (Grade B)	Refer patients to comprehensive moderate- to high-intensity programs that include dietary, physical activity, and behavioral counseling components.
Behavioral counseling to promote a healthful diet and physical activity for cardiovascular disease prevention in adults
General adult population without a known diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, or cardiovascular disease	Although the correlation among healthful diet, physical activity, and the incidence of cardiovascular disease is strong, existing evidence indicates that the health benefit of initiating behavioral counseling in the primary care setting to promote a healthful diet and physical activity is small. Clinicians may choose to selectively counsel patients rather than incorporate counseling into the care of all adults in the general population. (Grade C)	Medium- or high-intensity behavioral interventions to promote a healthful diet and physical activity may be provided to individual patients in primary care settings or in other sectors of the health care system after referral from a primary care clinician. In addition, clinicians may offer healthful diet and physical activity interventions by referring the patient to community-based organizations. Strong linkages between the primary care setting and community-based resources may improve the delivery of these services.
Behavioral counseling in primary care to promote a healthy diet in adults
Adults with increased risk for diet-related chronic disease	The USPSTF recommends intensive behavioral dietary counseling for adult patients with hyperlipidemia and other known risk factors for cardiovascular and diet-related chronic disease. Intensive counseling can be delivered by primary care clinicians or by referral to other specialists, such as nutritionists or dietitians. (Grade Ba)	Medium- to high-intensity counseling interventions can produce medium-to-large changes in average daily intake of core components of a healthy diet (including saturated fat, fiber, fruit, and vegetables) among adult patients at increased risk for diet-related chronic disease. Intensive counseling interventions that have been examined in controlled trials among at-risk adult patients have combined nutrition education with behavioral dietary counseling provided by a nutritionist, dietitian, or specially trained primary care clinician (eg, physician, nurse, or nurse practitioner).
Description of recommendation grades
A—Strongly Recommended: The USPSTF strongly recommends that clinicians provide [the service] to eligible patients. The USPSTF found good evidence that [the service] improves important health outcomes and concludes that benefits substantially outweigh harms.
B—Recommended: The USPSTF recommends that clinicians provide [the service] to eligible patients. The USPSTF found at least fair evidence that [the service] improves important health outcomes and concludes that benefits outweigh harms.
C—No Recommendation: The USPSTF makes no recommendation for or against routine provision of [the service]. The USPSTF found at least fair evidence that [the service] can improve health outcomes but concludes that the balance of benefits and harms is too close to justify a general recommendation.
D—Not Recommended: The USPSTF recommends against routinely providing [the service] to asymptomatic patients. The USPSTF found at least fair evidence that [the service] is ineffective or that harms outweigh benefits.
I—Insufficient Evidence to Make a Recommendation: The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against routinely providing [the service]. Evidence that the [service] is effective is lacking, of poor quality, or conflicting and the balance of benefits and harms cannot be determined.

Abbreviation: USPSTF, US Preventive Services Task Force.

^aUpdate in progress.