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Pediatricians' own weight: self-perception, misclassification, and ease of counseling

Eliana M Perrin1, Kori B Flower, Alice S Ammerman

  • 1Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7220, 130 Mason Farm Road, Fifth Floor, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7220, USA. eliana_perrin@med.unc.edu

Obesity Research
|April 1, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Many pediatricians misclassify their own weight status, impacting their confidence in obesity counseling. This physician weight self-perception affects their ability to effectively counsel patients on weight management.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Research
  • Public Health
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Physician health behaviors influence patient counseling.
  • Pediatricians often underdiagnose overweight and report feeling ineffective in obesity counseling.
  • Understanding physician weight status and self-perception is crucial for improving counseling practices.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of overweight among pediatricians.
  • To assess the accuracy of pediatricians' self-classification of their weight status.
  • To examine the relationship between pediatricians' weight self-perception and their perceived ease of conducting obesity counseling.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional mail survey of North Carolina pediatricians.
  • Data collected on self-reported height, weight, and ease of counseling.
  • Logistic regression used to analyze associations, controlling for confounders.

Main Results:

  • Nearly half (49%) of overweight pediatricians misclassified their weight status.
  • Men had higher odds of misclassifying overweight status compared to women.
  • Pediatricians who perceived themselves as 'thin' or 'overweight' reported significantly more difficulty with obesity counseling than those who perceived themselves as 'average' weight.

Conclusions:

  • Physician weight misclassification may influence obesity counseling effectiveness.
  • Further research is needed to explore the impact of physician weight self-perception on counseling behaviors.
  • Addressing physician weight status and self-awareness could enhance pediatric obesity interventions.
Abstract

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