Obesity evaluation and intervention during family medicine well visits

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent that primary care providers assess overweight and obesity and offer treatment strategies during well visits in a family medicine setting.

This was a cross-sectional study of 553 consecutive patients who presented for family medicine well visits. Patient charts were reviewed for documentation of body mass index (BMI) and patient education regarding weight, exercise, and diet.

BMI was calculated for 63.5% of adults at the well visit. For patients who were overweight or obese (BMI greater than 25), 48.9% received education on weight, 50.2% on diet, and 41% on exercise. Adults who had BMI calculated were also more likely to receive weight-related education (P < .001). Although height and weight were measured for most of the children and adolescents, their BMI-for-age was not calculated and they were unlikely to receive weight-related education.

Training staff to measure and record BMI is a useful prompt for the physician to discuss overweight. To address weight during critical periods of development, children and adolescents need to have growth monitored with standardized tools.