title: Do physician beliefs about causes of obesity translate into actionable issues on which physicians counsel their patients?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the relationship between primary care physicians' (PCPs') beliefs about the causes of obesity with the frequency of nutritional counseling.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed a national cross-sectional internet-based survey of 500 US PCPs collected between February and March 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PCPs that identified overconsumption of food as a very important cause of obesity had significantly greater odds of counseling patients to reduce portion sizes (OR 3.40; 95%CI: 1.73-6.68) and to avoid high calorie ingredients when cooking (OR 2.16; 95%CI: 1.07-4.33). Physicians who believed that restaurant/fast food eating was a very important cause of obesity had significantly greater odds of counseling patients to avoid high calorie menu items outside the home (OR 1.93; 95%CI: 1.20-3.11). Physicians who reported that sugar-sweetened beverages were a very important cause of obesity had significantly greater odds of counseling their obese patients to reduce consumption (OR 5.99; 95%CI: 3.53-10.17).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PCP beliefs about the diet-related causes of obesity may translate into actionable nutritional counseling topics for physicians to use with their patients.
authors: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. sbleich@jhsph.edu
authors: Sara N
authors: SN
authors: Bleich
authors: Kimberly A
authors: KA
authors: Gudzune
authors: Wendy L
authors: WL
authors: Bennett
authors: Lisa A
authors: LA
authors: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003376:Counseling; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States
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