Healthy Weight Intervention for Children: Feasibility in a Dental Setting

Objectives: With the high prevalence of childhood obesity, it may be beneficial to design interventions that can be used in routine health services to children. Dental care settings, given the paradigm of their standard of care, present an opportunity for such interventions. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a healthy weight intervention for children, specifically designed to be part of the biannual preventive and diagnostic visit. Methods: Approximately 130 6-13 year old patients of 2 community health centers receive a “healthy weight” component to their biannual dental visit. They are being followed for 12 months through 2 or 3 routine visits. At each visit, a hygienist measures height and weight to calculate BMI, and aids the child in an assessment of his obesity-promoting behaviors: diet, physical activity, TV habits and meal patterns. A “health report card” is generated for each child with recommendations and referrals if needed. The instruments for obtaining dietary and lifestyle information and for recommendations were tested and revised to their final formats. Results: An important element of this feasibility study is the added amount of time that the intervention would need. In this study, the average time required for the enhanced hygiene visit was 47 minutes, very close to the 45 minutes allotted in the health center clinics. This intervention has been well received by children and parents; no one has elected to not receive the intervention. In this racial and ethnically diverse subject population, 47% of the children were found to be overweight or at risk of overweight and required pediatric referrals. Conclusions: This pilot “healthy weight” intervention promises to be a feasible addition to the routine biannual child dental visit. An assessment of the efficacy of the intervention will be needed. Supported by NIH grant DEO17446-01