The goal of this twice-resubmitted R21 application is to determine the attitudes, practices, outcome expectations and self-confidence of dentists in providing pediatric obesity intervention as well as perceived barriers to offering this service. Obesity is a major public health problem that is increasing in children. Dental practice has been suggested as an ideal site for obesity intervention because poor dietary habits are a known risk factor for both dental caries and obesity. However, there is a lack of evidence to suggest that dentists are prepared or willing to address pediatric obesity as part of their practice. To address this lack of evidence, we propose to conduct a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 4000 general and 4000 pediatric American Dental Association member dentists from 50 states to determine: 1) if pediatric and general dentists who routinely treat children provide any form of pediatric obesity counseling in their practices, and 2) if there are differences between general and pediatric dentists in attitudes, opinions, outcome expectations, and self-confidence, as well as perceived barriers to offering weight loss counseling in the dental setting. The Survey Research Unit of the University of North Carolina will assist in the conduct of this survey. The random sample will be stratified by dentist type as well as region and then weighted proportionally to the number of practicing dentists in each region. In addition to determining if there are differences between general and pediatric dental practices related to obesity intervention, responses will be analyzed to determine if covariates of age, gender, race/ethnicity, years in practice, practice location, private vs. public health practice, obesity prevalence in the dentist's state, and self-described weight are related to attitudes, practices, self-efficacy and outcome expectations of dentists as well as perceived barriers to offering this service. Consistent with the purpose of PAR DE-06-246, the results of this exploratory study will provide data for future R01 grant applications that will investigate the inclusion of pediatric obesity intervention in routine dental practice. Project Narrative: The purpose of this project is to determine if dentists are willing and able to address the epidemic of obesity, including pediatric obesity, within their dental practice. If dentists have the resources and skills, they may be able to become partners with primary care to support prevention and intervention efforts that will be required to successfully address obesity in the United States. ? ? ?
| Lee, Jessica Y; Caplan, Daniel J; Gizlice, Ziya et al. (2012) US pediatric dentists' counseling practices in addressing childhood obesity. Pediatr Dent 34:245-50 |
| Curran, Alice E; Caplan, Daniel J; Lee, Jessica Y et al. (2010) Dentists' attitudes about their role in addressing obesity in patients: a national survey. J Am Dent Assoc 141:1307-16 |
