Parental attitude towards healthy weight screening/counselling for their children by dentists
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Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Amjad Hussain Wyne1, Bander Abdul Rahman Al-Neaim2, Faisal Mohammad Al-Aloula3
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, King Saud University College of Dentistry, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Objective:
To obtain information about parental attitude towards healthy weight screening/counselling during dental visits of their children.
Methods:
The study was conducted at the King Saud University College of Dentistry Interns Clinic at Darraiyah University Campus, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October to December 2013, and comprised a sample of 6-to-11-year-old children and their parents. A questionnaire was used to record height/weight data, history of body weight counselling and parental opinion regarding healthy weight screening and counselling. SPSS 17 was used for data analysis.
Results:
Of the 61 children, 35(57.4%) were boys and 26(42.6%) were girls. The overall mean age was 7.9±1.7 years (range: 6-11 years). Besides, 40(65.6%) children were accompanied by their fathers and 21(34.4%) by their mothers. Overall 13(21.3%) children were overweight and 7(11.5%) obese. Moreover, 54(88.5%) parents found the healthy weight screening and counselling for their children valuable, whereas 46(75.4%) endorsed the screening/counselling during the dental visit of their children.
Conclusions:
Most parents found healthy weight screening and counselling to be valuable, and endorsed its administration during dental visits for their children.
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