title: Fit WIC: attitudes, perceptions and practices of WIC staff toward addressing childhood overweight.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Extension Specialist, Assistant Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0430, USA. serrano@vt.edu
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gresock
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Suttle
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McGarvey
mesh_terms: 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