With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, it is clear that interventions in settings that provide routine services to children are highly desirable. General and pediatric (primary) dental settings, given the paradigm of their standard care, offer an excellent opportunity for such interventions. There is synergy between the nutrition recommendations made by dental providers and those made for the treatment or prevention of overweight children. Additionally, the dental standard of care calls for two preventive diagnostic visits per year, one more than the Pediatric visit, allowing for twice the frequency of a primary care intervention. The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of adapting the model of primary dental care to include an intervention promoting awareness of child obesity risk.
The specific aims of this R21 are: (1) to assess the feasibility of an obesity intervention among children as part of a routine dental preventive and diagnostic visit in a primary dental care clinic. (2) As part of the intervention, to measure weight, height, calculate BMI, and collect selected information on dietary intake, physical activity and TV viewing. (3) To provide a """"""""health report card"""""""" with recommendations and referrals, if needed, which are targeted to each subject's obesity risk evaluation. (4) To assess the extent to which the subjects and their caregivers adopt the recommendations and follow through with the referrals. (5) To assess the acceptability of the intervention in the dental setting from providers, subjects, and their caregivers. The proposed study will utilize a one-year longitudinal study of 150 children between the ages of 6 and 11, who are patients of a community health center clinic. Their routine semi-annual visits with the dental hygienist will be supplemented with BMI calculations, an obesity risk factor questionnaire, a review of the findings, and a """"""""report card"""""""" that identifies weight status and risk factors for each child. Recommendations and referrals (for those with BMI in the 85%ile or higher) will be individualized for each participant.
| Tavares, Mary; Chomitz, Virginia (2009) A healthy weight intervention for children in a dental setting: a pilot study. J Am Dent Assoc 140:313-6 |
