"During primary care visits with overweight children in which there is a language barrier, it is incredibly important to provide a trained medical interpreter or bilingual provider, and use a growth chart to communicate that the child is overweight," said Dr. Christy Turer, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern and first author of the study, in a university news release.
The information gap is especially troubling considering that earlier this year, a study made some interesting findings surrounding how children perceive their weight. Conducted by the CDC, the new study found that heavy and obese children did not view themselves as such -- they saw themselves as having a normal weight. This "misperception" was more commonly found in African America and Mexican-American children (34 percent) than their Caucasian peers (28 percent). Other findings from the study, include: roughly 50 percent of obese boys and more than 33 percent of obese girls believed they were at a normal rate and most children with misperceived weight status' hailed from lower-income families.
According to Science Daily, the UT Southwestern study made three crucial findings:
- Language barriers impact communication that a child is overweight.
- Many overweight Latino children and their parents are not directly told that the child is overweight.
- Few overweight Latino children and their parents receive weight-management plans, culturally relevant dietary advice, or follow-up visits to address weight.
"Special attention should be paid to directly telling Latino families that the child is overweight using family-preferred terms," said Dr. Turer. "For example, pediatricians should use phrases such as 'too much weight for his/her health' or 'demasiado peso para su salud,' and avoid terms such as 'fat,' 'heavy,' or 'obese.' "
Post your Comment
Please login or sign up to comment
Comments