Monday, February 02, 2015

Parents, Have You Ever Sought Help From an MD for Your Kid's Weight?

If you have, I'd love it if you could please take 2 minutes of your day to fill out this brief 6 question survey from the Centre for Effective Practice.

The survey is designed to see where physicians and nurse practitioners might be dropping the ball with parents who are looking for help for their kids' weights. The survey is part of a larger project (full disclosure, I'm helping out as its clinical lead) for The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and the Ontario College of Family Physicians to develop material for healthcare providers over the next 3 years.

Working with parents of children whose weights are of concern I've been surprised by the range of stories I've heard from parents who had sought help from the medical system. Sometimes they were positive and full of thoughtful and actionable advice. And sometimes they were less than helpful, with parents given incredibly trite advice and with very young children being chastised directly, and even rudely, by physicians in their offices. What I don't know is if there's a norm, and if the interactions had positive or negative impact upon the kids or parents. Perhaps there are some common challenges or best practices, which if identified, can be addressed in the materials developed by this project over the course of the next few years.

Again, if you've had experiences with your child's primary provider regarding weight, whether positive or negative, it would be terrific if you could take just a moment to click here and fill out this short questionnaire, and if you could also share this request on your Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, it would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe together we can do some good.

Warm thanks,
Yoni