US pediatric dentists' counseling practices in addressing childhood obesity.
OBJECTIVE
Pediatric dentists could be in an excellent position to identify and intervene early for children at high risk for overweight or obesity; however, current practices and attitudes are uncertain. This study's purpose was to explore the practices and attitudes of pediatric dentists regarding weight-and caries-related counseling.


METHODS
Data were analyzed from 1,779 pediatric dentists responding to a 2008-09 survey of 4,154 randomly selected pediatric and 3,846 general dentists. Data were weighted to account for unequal probability of selection and nonresponse rates among regions and dentist types.


RESULTS
Sixty-five percent of respondents reported increased proportions of overweight/obese pediatric patients since they began practice, and approximately 9% offered weight-related counseling. By contrast, approximately 80% provided caries-related counseling. Major barriers to providing weight-related counseling included fears of offending parents/patients (~54%) and appearing judgmental (~53%), lack of patient acceptance of weight-loss advice from dentists (~47%), not enough trained personnel to provide counseling (~43%), and insufficient time (~28%). Multivariable predictors of providing weight-related counseling included female sex, Hispanic ethnicity, nongroup practice setting, practice ownership, and dentist self-reported normal- or underweight status.


CONCLUSIONS
Primary barriers to weight-related counseling cited by pediatric dentists reflect concerns about offending patients and caregivers. Training and counseling addressing these concerns may help boost counseling rates.
Health Policy and Management and Pediatric Dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA. leej@dentistry.unc.edu
Jessica Y
JY
Lee
Daniel J
DJ
Caplan
Ziya
Z
Gizlice
Alice
A
Ammerman
Robert
R
Agans
Alice E
AE
Curran
D002648:Child; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce