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Discussing childhood overweight and obesity with parents: a health communication dilemma

Healthpact Research Centre for Health Promotion and Wellbeing, University of Canberra, Australia

Paul Morrison, BA, PGCE, GradDip Coun, PhD

Healthpact Research Centre for Health Promotion and Wellbeing, University of Canberra, Australia

Childhood obesity has reached alarming levels and the problem has assumed great significance for health care staff who work with overweight children and their families. Anecdotal accounts of the difficulties that may emerge when health care providers communicate that a child's weight is outside of the normal range, were a key stimulus for this review. A local government health department commissioned a review of literature on communicating with parents about childhood overweight and obesity. Literature concerned with communicating a child's overweight to parents was limited and, as a result, this review draws upon a disparate body of literature to examine what is known and what might be helpful for health care providers when discussing a child's weight with the child and parents. This paper identifies a range of factors influencing communication between health care workers and parents and offers a number of practical approaches and strategies for facilitating successful communication between health practitioners and the parents of children.

Key Words: childhood obesity • communication • parents • health professionals

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Journal of Child Health Care, Vol. 11, No. 4, 311-322 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1367493507082757


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Mikhailovich, K. Articles by Morrison, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mikhailovich, K. Articles by Morrison, P. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Child Nutrition Family Issues Obesity Obesity in Children Social Bookmarking                         What's this?