Nutrition is well-recognized as a necessary component of educational programs for physicians. This is to be valued in that of all factors affecting health in the United States, none is more important than nutrition. This can be argued from various perspectives, including health promotion, disease prevention, and therapeutic management. In all cases, serious consideration of nutrition related issues in the practice is seen to be one means to achieve cost-effective medical care. These modules were designed to provide more practical knowledge to health care providers, and in particular primary care physicians. This module is designed to provide information for the physician which will assist in the counseling of overweight patients, to help them achieve and maintain weight loss, and to help distinguish among all overweight persons those who specifically need to lose body fat. Included are the learning goals and objectives, self-checks of achievement with regard to goals, references for the physician and for the physician to give to the patient, and a "Guide to Changing Eating Habits" for physicians. (CW)