The Emory Bariatric Center, under the medical direction of Arvin Singh, MD, is expanding at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital this month with the launch of the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP). This non-surgical, lifestyle change program is offered for patients looking to lose weight and optimize their health.
CHIP has successfully served more than 80,000 people during the past three decades, in communities, corporate wellness programs and clinical settings. Program participants follow a whole food/plant based diet that is high in fiber and low in fat and the successful results have been published in more than 31 scientific journals. According to Singh, the intensive weight management and lifestyle medicine program is intended to help people lose weight, prevent or reverse diabetes and improve cholesterol numbers. These are three of the major risk factors for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
Emory Saint Joseph’s is the first hospital within Emory Healthcare to offer the three month program, which begins with bi-weekly visits and a curriculum that includes topics such as healthy food options, preventing and reversing diabetes, exercise, heart health, stress management and more.
“Each patient will complete a body composition analysis at the beginning of the program to obtain the baseline body fat percentage,” says Singh. “We will also obtain baseline biometric health measurements including cholesterol numbers, blood pressure, weight and diabetic markers.”
Every four weeks, patients will repeat the body composition analysis to track their progress, and the biometrics will be repeated at the end of the three month program.
Singh is a certified CHIP facilitator, and plans to offer this class approximately four times per year to the community. Three free information sessions will be held at 6:30 pm on April 8 and April 11, and at 8:30 am, April 13. They will take place at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital, 5673 Peachtree Dunwoody Road (Doctor’s Building), 6th floor conference room. The program will officially launch at 6:30 pm, April 23 at the same location. For more information, please call 404-778-5673.