Goutham Rao1. 1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine & Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Weight Management and Wellness Center, UPMC St Margaret Family Medicine Residency, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine rates of pediatric obesity-related counseling in the outpatient setting. METHODOLOGY: The 1993-2002 data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS) were extracted for estimates of 1) percentage of all pediatric encounters that included obesity-related counseling and 2) percentage of all pediatric encounters that included general growth/ development counseling. Obesity-related counseling rates were compared with corresponding growth/development counseling rates and with the number of pediatric-obesity articles listed in Medline for each year. RESULTS: The rate of obesity-related counseling steadily improved and was correlated with the number of published obesity articles (Spearman's rho .721) between 1993 and 2002. In 1995, for example, 4.3% of encounters included such counseling, compared with 19.0% in 2001 and 15.4% in 2002. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity-related counseling has become an important part of ambulatory care, which suggests increasing awareness of this serious problem.
OBJECTIVE: To determine rates of pediatric obesity-related counseling in the outpatient setting. METHODOLOGY: The 1993-2002 data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS) were extracted for estimates of 1) percentage of all pediatric encounters that included obesity-related counseling and 2) percentage of all pediatric encounters that included general growth/ development counseling. Obesity-related counseling rates were compared with corresponding growth/development counseling rates and with the number of pediatric-obesity articles listed in Medline for each year. RESULTS: The rate of obesity-related counseling steadily improved and was correlated with the number of published obesity articles (Spearman's rho .721) between 1993 and 2002. In 1995, for example, 4.3% of encounters included such counseling, compared with 19.0% in 2001 and 15.4% in 2002. CONCLUSIONS:Obesity-related counseling has become an important part of ambulatory care, which suggests increasing awareness of this serious problem.
Authors: Kristine A Madsen; Hannah R Thompson; Lidya Wlasiuk; Emily Queliza; Colin Schmidt; Thomas B Newman Journal: J Child Health Care Date: 2009-10-15 Impact factor: 1.979