Primary care providers' perspectives on initiating childhood obesity conversations: a qualitative study

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Family Medicine

Background:

• Primary care physicians (PCPs) are vital in managing childhood obesity.
• Effective communication strategies for weight discussions with families are lacking.
• Understanding PCP perspectives is key to developing guidelines for addressing pediatric weight concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore primary care physicians' (PCPs) preferences and behaviors regarding weight-related conversations with pediatric patients and their families.
• To identify effective communication strategies for discussing weight with children and families in primary care settings.

Main Methods:

• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 PCPs from the University of Minnesota.
• Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts.
• The study focused on PCP experiences and perceptions of weight-related discussions.

Main Results:

• PCPs identified well-child visits as the optimal setting for weight discussions.
• Effective communication elements included collaboration, empathy, a health focus, and objective measures.
• PCPs were less inclined to initiate weight talks during acute visits or initial patient encounters.

Conclusions:

• PCPs are more comfortable discussing weight during routine well-child visits.
• Utilizing objective measures like growth charts can facilitate these conversations.
• Exploring alternative opportunities for healthy lifestyle discussions is crucial, given missed well-child visits, to address pediatric obesity effectively.