Fit WIC: attitudes, perceptions and practices of WIC staff toward addressing childhood overweight.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the attitudes, perceptions, and practices of staff of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in providing nutrition education on childhood overweight topics with WIC participants.


METHODS
Descriptive and correlational study.


METHODS
WIC clinics in Virginia.


METHODS
106 employees working in direct contact with WIC participants.


METHODS
Demographic information; comfort level and frequency of discussing childhood overweight-related topics with participants; perception of WIC's ability to prevent and help address overweight among children and adults; body mass index (BMI); and attitudes toward personal weight.


METHODS
Descriptive statistics, regression, and analysis of variance.


RESULTS
WIC staff in this study reported a lack of comfort, practice, and confidence in addressing and/or preventing childhood overweight with WIC participants, with differences existing based on job title (P < .05). Barriers to implementing programs included perceived attitudes of participants, transportation, time, cultural issues, and childcare. Staff BMIs were significantly correlated to ethnicity, age, feeling overweight, unhappiness with current weight, and comfort level discussing fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity (P < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Staff training, health promotion programs, and culturally relevant educational materials are warranted for WIC staff to build a strong knowledge base and promote self-efficacy about childhood overweight-related topics.
Serrano
Elena
E
Extension Specialist, Assistant Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0430, USA. serrano@vt.edu
Gresock
Emily
E
Suttle
David
D
Keller
Adrienne
A
McGarvey
Elizabeth
E
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014768:Virginia