Applying Practice Recommendations for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

To describe pediatric clinicians’ adherence to practice recommendations for obesity prevention and treatment, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 227 medical records of 3- to 18-year-old patients (seen from September 2003 to April 2004) and a longitudinal analysis of data from 632 overweight and obese patients (followed through March 2006). The cross-sectional analysis showed that early practice adopters (n = 3) more frequently recorded BMI (91% of patients), a diagnosis (89%), and counseling (82%) compared with late adopters (n = 9; 34%, 51%, and 48% of patients, respectively; P < .001). The longitudinal analysis showed that among overweight and obese patients, documentation of BMI dropped from 96% at the first clinic visit to 27% by the fifth visit; documentation of individual risk behaviors fell from ≥72% at the first visit to ≤23% at the fifth visit. Despite initial adoption of screening and assessment practices, clinicians’ attention to weight management diminished over time.