Do You Need to Discuss Your Child’s Weight with Your Pediatrician? What the Experts Say

A North Carolina mom has gone viral after she asked her child’s pediatrician not to discuss her 9-year-old daughter’s weight — but is weight management a doctor’s job?

It may be, says the National Institutes of Health (NIH), because “extra weight can put people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer. Research shows that even a modest 5 percent weight loss can result in health benefits.”

And childhood obesity can be detrimental to a person’s overall health, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) reported, with nearly 19 percent of children.

“Obesity is associated with numerous immediate and long-term physical and psychosocial health consequences, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem,” says the NLM. “Thus, in order to maximize health and quality of life, it is imperative to identify, prevent and manage childhood obesity.”

But parents like Caroline Hardin, who told her daughter’s pediatrician she wants a “body-neutral and body-positive environment,” are often against talking about weight.

Do children need to be weighed by a pediatrician?

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“Many providers … are concerned that parents will react negatively to discussions about their child’s weight and have indicated that parental opposition to weight discussions has hindered obesity prevention efforts,” the NLM says.

And those parents have reason to be concerned about weight debates. “There is concern that efforts to prevent obesity could lead to the development of ED [eating disorder]”, says the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP).

It added: “Most adolescents who develop ED do not have a history of obesity, but some adolescents may misinterpret what ‘healthy eating’ is and engage in unhealthy behaviors.”

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The AAP does not advise pediatricians to avoid discussing a child’s weight, especially when it is a health problem.

Instead, the organization advises that doctors use inclusive language, “using the term ‘obese child’ rather than ‘obese child'” such as “pediatricians and others [primary health-care providers] PHCPs were—and remain—a source of weight bias.”

The AAP also says doctors need to consider other socioeconomic and racial factors and focus on “nutrition counseling” instead of “structured nutrition.”

Adults can opt out of a doctor’s weigh-in — although some medications (like birth control) — require a person’s weight for proper dosing.

The same is true for some medications for children, as even Tylenol dosage is determined by weight. As Time The magazine noted, “Pediatricians need to know how much children weigh, at least occasionally. But that doesn’t mean they should talk about it in a way that causes harm.”

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“Given the anxiety patients often go through during a weigh-in, a complete metabolic screen is often an acceptable substitute,” said David P. Selzer, MD, an internal medicine physician at NYU Langone. So + Good.

“Instead of focusing on one data point, our top priority is to make sure every patient feels comfortable during their exam,” he said.

And if the time comes to discuss a patient’s weight, the NIH recommends that physicians “open the discussion about weight in a respectful and nonjudgmental way. Patients may be more open if they feel respected.”

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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education