viernes, 15 de junio de 2012

Obesity Counseling by Pediatric Health Profession... [Pediatrics. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI

Overweight Adolescents Trail Obese Kids in Getting Diet and Exercise Advice

Overweight U.S. adolescents are less likely than those already obese to be told by a doctor or other clinician to eat more healthful foods and exercise more, according to an AHRQ study in the June 2012 issue of Pediatrics. AHRQ’s Lan Liang, Ph.D. and fellow researchers found that overweight boys and girls ages 11 to 17 were less likely than their obese counterparts to be given dietary advice during medical appointments. Roughly 53 percent of overweight girls and 44 percent of overweight boys were given dietary advice, compared with 62 percent of obese girls and 54 percent of obese boys. Data also show that 40 percent of overweight girls and 38 percent of overweight boys were advised to exercise more, compared with 53 percent of obese girls and 47 percent of obese boys. The researchers also found that boys and girls living in the Northeast or who had more highly educated parents and higher family incomes were the most likely to be given obesity counseling. They also found that both black and Hispanic adolescents had higher odds of getting advice on diet than white adolescents, but only Hispanic adolescents were more likely to receive exercise advice. According to the researchers, the low dietary and exercise counseling rate of overweight children is troubling because obesity is easier to prevent than to treat, and counseling could help prevent overweight individuals from becoming obese later in life. The researchers said their study may be the first nationally representative one of the rate of screening for overweight and obesity among adolescents as well as healthy eating and physical activity counseling by pediatric health care professionals. The researchers analyzed 2001 to 2007 data from AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The study, “Obesity Counseling by Pediatric Health Professionals: An Assessment Using Nationally Representative Data,” was published online in Pediatrics on June 4. Select to access the abstract on PubMed.®

Pediatrics. 2012 Jun 4. [Epub ahead of print]

Obesity Counseling by Pediatric Health Professionals: An Assessment Using Nationally Representative Data.

Liang L, Meyerhoefer C, Wang J.

Source

aCenter for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland;

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Examine the rate of screening for adolescent overweight and obesity by pediatric health care professionals and the provision of advice on healthy eating and physical activity.

METHODS:

Our sample contains adolescents 11 to 17 years old (6911 girls and 6970 boys) from the 2001-2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey who reported having at least 1 health provider visit in the previous 12 months. Using logistic regression, we investigated factors associated with whether parents reported that their children were weighed and measured and whether they or their children received counseling on their eating habits and physical activity. All models were estimated separately by gender.

RESULTS:

Forty-seven percent of girls and 44% of boys who visited a health provider were advised to eat healthy, and 36% of boys and girls were advised to exercise more. Obese boys and girls were both more likely to be advised to eat healthy (odds ratio [OR] = 2.10, P < .001 and OR = 1.70, P < .001) and exercise more (OR = 2.37, P < .001 and OR = 1.90, P < .001) than adolescents who have normal weight. However, overweight boys and girls were counseled at a much lower rate than those who were obese. Adolescents who were more likely to receive such advice lived in the northeast, were from higher-income households, had parents with at least some college education, and had a usual source of medical care.