Introduction
In Australia, approximately one quarter of school-aged children are overweight or have obesity. Early identification and treatment of children with obesity is important for improving outcomes. Healthcare professionals have a pivotal role in early identification and treatment. The aim of this study was to compare perceptions of the assessment and management of children between primary, secondary and tertiary care clinicians across two health districts in Western Sydney and the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.
Methods
Participants were 304 clinicians (medical, nursing and allied health workers) in primary, secondary and tertiary paediatric level services. An online questionnaire was developed to capture the training, assessment and management approaches and barriers to managing paediatric patients with obesity. Chi-squared tests and logistic regressions were used to examine the difference in responses between primary, secondary and tertiary practitioners.
Results
Overall, clinicians had low rates of training in obesity (48%), did not routinely measure tandem heights and weights (80%), and did not refer children to other services. Only 25% of clinicians frequently referred children to weight management services (most frequently the Dietitian) and very few (7%) frequently referred patients to a free, community-based intervention for children. When comparing across healthcare settings, those in secondary level services had higher rates of training (70%) and more frequently initiated treatment for obesity.
Conclusion
Frequencies of clinicians who routinely identify and initiate treatment for a child with obesity are low among health professionals in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare settings, with some exceptions for secondary care clinicians, who were more frequently trained and more often initiated treatment. This suggests that more health professional training may be a key factor in increasing healthcare for obesity.