Heavy teens need to spend time with Pediatrician

A new research form California suggested that Pediatricians should not missed each chance to talk about nutrition, exercise, and emotional issues with overweight teens.

Study author Dr. Carolyn Bradner Jasik says focusing on the issue of overweight teens.  Helps the doctor, on putting a stop on unhealthy behavior an earlier time, before it is too late.

Once that the kids are already obese it would be a lot harder to stop the kids’ unhealthy behavior.

The new study reveals that doctors might take time to talk things with obese kids about their condition, but will not bother to talk to an overweight teen.

Dr. Randall Stafford, who has studied obesity counseling at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, says the problem with obesity has long been recognized so doctors tend to talk to obese teens most of the time.  However, they tend to forget those kids who are likely to develop into obese individual.

To find out if the pediatricians were on the task, Jasik and her colleagues had conducted a telephone survey concerning adolescents of age 12 to 17.

In the years, 2003, 2005, and 2007, researcher conducted a survey on around 9,000 teens about their height and weight.  Also if, their pediatrician has already talked to them during their last appointment about the importance of nutrition, physical activity, and emotional issues like anxiety and depression.

By means of measuring the BMI (Body Mass Index), researcher can now determine if one teen is obese, overweight, or normal weight.

As obese teens are more likely to tell interviews that they have talked with doctors about diet and exercise, it is not the case for overweight children.  As the survey goes on for years, pediatricians tend to shy away from talking with their obese patients about the issue.

Jasik claims that talking to a normal-weight kids takes a little of the doctor, but if they are going to talk with overweight kids about eh same issue. It will take longer.

That could not be avoided because a pediatrician has a busy schedule.  In the US alone, there are around one third of the kids population are all obese, or overweight.

For a pediatrician, 20 minutes are that long that they could not afford.  Insurance companies would not pay them enough for a second time visit.

Stafford, who was not part of the new study, says it does not mean that the physician does not want to talk with those obese and overweight teens.  Pediatricians are considering other things such as tools, time and money.