Article Title
Access to Nutrition Education in Public Health Care: Pediatric Weight Management
Mentor
Lauren Sastre, Ph.D.
Major
Human Nutrition
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Human Nutrition
Abstract
The prevalence of childhood obesity has doubled over past two decades; one in four children is now obese. Obesity is often first identified in pediatric care and weight management counseling and is primarily the burden of the physician. Dietitians have specific training and expertise to counsel and educate patients to support dietary behavior changes; however, literature regarding the incorporation or outcomes of their services to combat pediatric obesity in a primary care setting is limited or non-existent. This raises the question of what pediatric health care professionals are doing to combat this dilemma. While there is ample literature regarding nutritional interventions and recommendations to address weight, there is little to no information on how pediatricians communicate these practices, how they are applied at home, or on the nature of the inclusion of dietitians in this practice. This research seeks to evaluate the inclusion and the process of incorporating such services into primary care - a necessary step to address this issue. The objective of this study was to conduct a cross study that assesses the strategies used to combat weight counseling in primary care. Furthermore, this study is aimed to summarize the evidence that explains parental perception of weight management counseling in primary health care.
Recommended Citation
Perez-Velazco, Ximena and Sastre, Lauren R. Dr.
(2018)
"Access to Nutrition Education in Public Health Care: Pediatric Weight Management,"
The Winthrop McNair Research Bulletin: Vol. 4, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/wmrb/vol4/iss1/8