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Making every contact count: recognising obesity in paediatric and young adult cardiology

Making every contact count: recognising obesity in paediatric and young adult cardiology
Making every contact count: recognising obesity in paediatric and young adult cardiology

Introduction: with increased survival, children with CHD are reaching adulthood, however, obesity amongst this cohort is an emerging problem. Making every contact count encourages clinicians to utilise contact to elicit behaviour change. The aim of this work was to identify whether the body habitus of children classified as obese was addressed during a clinical review. 

Methods: a retrospective observational cohort study was completed using a cardiology outpatient dataset from 2010 to 2019. Inclusion criteria are all children with a body mass index z score classified as obese (≥ 2 z scores). Individual electronic patient records were reviewed to identify long-term anthropometric measures including (i) recognition of body habitus, (ii) prescription of physical activity or dietary intervention, and (iii) referral to a weight management programme or dietitian. 

Results: from the cohort of 95 patients, 285 "obese clinical encounters"were identified, at the time of a cardiology clinic attendance. Of those, obesity was acknowledged in 25 clinic letters (8.65%), but only 8 used the correct terms "obese"or "obesity"(2.77%). Action to tackle obesity was recorded in 9.3% of cases with a direct referral to a dietitian being made on 3 occasions (1.04%). 

Conclusions: body habitus is not being routinely addressed by cardiologists caring for paediatric and young adult cardiac patients. This study has recognised an alarmingly high incidence of missed opportunities to make every contact count, to manage those with obesity and associated risk factors.

children, Congenital heart disease, making every contact count, nutrition, obesity
1047-9511
77-82
Smith, Aaron E.
dd8e51b8-fb46-4a3c-a80b-8cb79bb28566
Bharucha, Tara
04329825-30d1-4cac-817b-c1f1133630f7
Marino, Luise V.
c479400f-9424-4879-9ca6-d81e6351de26
Smith, Aaron E.
dd8e51b8-fb46-4a3c-a80b-8cb79bb28566
Bharucha, Tara
04329825-30d1-4cac-817b-c1f1133630f7
Marino, Luise V.
c479400f-9424-4879-9ca6-d81e6351de26

Smith, Aaron E., Bharucha, Tara and Marino, Luise V. (2022) Making every contact count: recognising obesity in paediatric and young adult cardiology. Cardiology in the Young, 32 (1), 77-82. (doi:10.1017/S1047951121001566).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Introduction: with increased survival, children with CHD are reaching adulthood, however, obesity amongst this cohort is an emerging problem. Making every contact count encourages clinicians to utilise contact to elicit behaviour change. The aim of this work was to identify whether the body habitus of children classified as obese was addressed during a clinical review. 

Methods: a retrospective observational cohort study was completed using a cardiology outpatient dataset from 2010 to 2019. Inclusion criteria are all children with a body mass index z score classified as obese (≥ 2 z scores). Individual electronic patient records were reviewed to identify long-term anthropometric measures including (i) recognition of body habitus, (ii) prescription of physical activity or dietary intervention, and (iii) referral to a weight management programme or dietitian. 

Results: from the cohort of 95 patients, 285 "obese clinical encounters"were identified, at the time of a cardiology clinic attendance. Of those, obesity was acknowledged in 25 clinic letters (8.65%), but only 8 used the correct terms "obese"or "obesity"(2.77%). Action to tackle obesity was recorded in 9.3% of cases with a direct referral to a dietitian being made on 3 occasions (1.04%). 

Conclusions: body habitus is not being routinely addressed by cardiologists caring for paediatric and young adult cardiac patients. This study has recognised an alarmingly high incidence of missed opportunities to make every contact count, to manage those with obesity and associated risk factors.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 31 March 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 May 2021
Published date: January 2022
Additional Information: Financial support This work is also part of independent research completed by AS and is supported by an internship from LVM Health Education England/NIHR Clinical Lectureship (ICA-CL-2016–02–001) supported by the National Institute for Health Research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, Health Education England, or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Keywords: children, Congenital heart disease, making every contact count, nutrition, obesity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 453492
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453492
ISSN: 1047-9511
PURE UUID: e9fd1156-a14c-4946-a611-16ce58c91b2a

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Date deposited: 18 Jan 2022 17:40
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 13:44

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Contributors

Author: Aaron E. Smith
Author: Tara Bharucha
Author: Luise V. Marino

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