Weight-management benchmarks not met in Latino kids: Study

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Researchers from the Medica Research Institute in Minneapolis have found that weight-management care benchmarks are not being met in Latino children at primary-care visits.

In one of the first studies of provider-patient communication of weight management and electronic medical records, results showed that referrals for nutrition/weight management and recommended laboratory testing benchmarks were not being met among overweight Latino children.

Researchers studied communication during primary-care visits of 6- to 12-year-old overweight or obese Latino children and found that in 42 percent of the visits, benchmarks were not communicated or documented.

Benchmarks were communicated but not documented or documented but not communicated in up to 20 percent of the visits. The benchmarks for laboratory study rates were only 35 percent and nutrition/weight-management referrals were 42 percent.

"Improved communication with families regarding healthy weight and weight-related risks could help promote healthy lifestyle changes in overweight children," Glenn Flores, distinguished chair of Health Policy Research at the Medica Research Institute and senior author of the study, said in a press release. "Enhanced communication and documentation of quality benchmarks for weight management shows promise in achieving higher quality in the care of overweight children in primary care."

The study was published in Global Pediatric Health.