When obese children are admitted to hospitals, most of the doctors do not record that they are overweight. Thus these children miss out on procedures such as screenings for cholesterol and diabetes, and education about nutrition and exercise.
- Dr. Anshu Gupta of the Virginia Commonwealth University, studied 80 children under age 18 who were admitted to a pediatric unit in a city hospital during a period of ten weeks.
- Although 30 of the children were obese and nine were overweight, doctors recorded such information about only four children.
- Only one child was referred to a clinic for obesity outpatient treatment.
Dr. Gupta notes that his study is problematical because obese children may be hospitalized at higher rates than children of normal weight.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.
Labels: health, hospitals, doctors
Posted By: Aspen Education Group
