Childhood obesity prevention in general practice: supporting implementation through co-ideation

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• General Practice
• Preventive Medicine

Background:

• Childhood obesity presents significant physical and psychological risks, making prevention a key health objective.
• Australian guidelines recommend General Practitioners (GPs) for childhood obesity prevention through growth monitoring and behavior promotion.
• Barriers in general practice may hinder the implementation of these preventive care guidelines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify practical methods for supporting GPs in childhood obesity prevention.
• To address barriers to integrating obesity prevention activities into clinical practice for healthy-weight children.
• To explore interventions at individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels.

Main Methods:

• Proceedings from three workshops held in October-November 2022 with Australian GPs and academics.
• Utilized co-ideation activities including idea generation, intervention development, and concept assessment.
• Considered ecological levels: individual, interpersonal, and organizational.

Main Results:

• Identified opportunities for childhood obesity prevention support within general practice settings.
• Proposed interventions include GP education, clinical audit facilitation, accessible guidelines, resource repositories, and improved growth monitoring tools.
• Interventions were identified across multiple ecological levels.

Conclusions:

• Co-ideation with GPs yielded practical interventions to enhance guideline implementation.
• Proposed strategies aim to support childhood obesity prevention within general practice.
• Findings are informed by the daily realities faced by GPs.