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Weighing children; parents agree, but GPs conflicted
Brendan O'Shea1, Emma L Ladewig2, Alan Kelly3
1Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Trinity College Dublin Health Services Executive General Practice Training Scheme, Trinity Teaching Centre, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin 24, Ireland National Children's Research Centre, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Background:
General practitioners (GPs) do not routinely check children's weight, partly due to concern regarding parental/child response. The aim of this study is to compare GP concerns regarding weighing with parental/child responses.
Objective:
Compare GP insights on weighing children with the experience of parents whose children had been weighed.
Methods:
Part 1: postal survey of 20% sample of Irish GPs. Part 2: general practice-based study checking weight of 5-12 year olds attending 10 practices, with postconsultation parental survey.
Setting:
Irish General Practice.
Participants:
393 GPs and 457 parents.
Outcome Measures:
GP (n=393) and parental (n=434) responses.
Results:
Of 490 GPs surveyed, 393 responded (response rate 80.2%). Few GPs (3.56%) always checked children's weight. Concern regarding parental response was often (52.2%) or always (19.0%) a concern that affected the likelihood of discussing a child's weight. Among children (n=457), 14.9% were overweight and 10.9% obese. Almost all (98.6%) parents indicated checking weight was helpful. 4.4% of parents and just over 1 in 4 obese children responded negatively to weighing. Overweight children were more likely to respond negatively (χ(2)=62.6, df=4, p<0.001). Children 5-6 years were most likely to respond positively.
Conclusions:
GPs are conflicted regarding the acceptability of weighing the child but almost all parents believed it helpful. A minority of obese children responded negatively.
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