Volume 82, Issue 3 pp. 107-114

Understanding Pediatricians' Views Toward School-Based BMI Screening in Massachusetts: A Pilot Study

Stefanie A. Pietras BS

Stefanie A. Pietras BS

Research Coordinator, ( [email protected] ), Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, 15th floor- C100, 100 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02114.

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Erinn T. Rhodes MD, MPH

Erinn T. Rhodes MD, MPH

Director, ( [email protected] ), Type 2 Diabetes Program, Division of Endocrinology, Children's Hospital Boston, 333 Longwood Ave. 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02115.

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Alan Meyers MD, MPH

Alan Meyers MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, ( [email protected] ), Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, 850 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02118.

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Elizabeth Goodman MD

Corresponding Author

Elizabeth Goodman MD

Associate Chief for Community-Based Research, ( [email protected] ), Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and Director, Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy, 15th Floor- C100, 100 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02114.

Elizabeth Goodman, Associate Chief for Community-Based Research, ([email protected]), Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and Director, Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy, 15th Floor- C100, 100 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02114.Search for more papers by this author
First published: 09 February 2012
Citations: 6

The authors thank Cathleen Haggerty and members of the Obesity Committee of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics for their assistance developing the survey and the Bingham Trust and NIH Grant DK046200 for support of this work.

This survey was performed while Dr Goodman and Ms Pietras were at Tufts Medical Center. Dr Rhodes, Dr Meyers, and Dr Goodman are members of the Obesity Committee of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Massachusetts (MA) mandated body mass index (BMI) screening in schools in 2010. However, little is known about pediatricians' views on school-based screening or how the pediatricians' perspectives might affect the school-based screening process. We assessed MA pediatricians' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices concerning BMI screening.

METHODS: An anonymous Web-based survey was completed by 286 members of the MA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics who provided primary care (40% response rate).

RESULTS: Support for school-based BMI screening was mixed. While 16.1% strongly supported it, 12.2% strongly opposed it. About one fifth (20.2%) believed school-based screening would improve communication between schools and pediatricians; 23.0% believed school-based screening would help with patient care. More (32.2%) believed screening in schools would facilitate communication with families. In contrast, pediatricians embraced BMI screening in practice: 91.6% calculated and 85.7% plotted BMI at every well child visit. Pediatricians in urban practices, particularly inner city, had more positive attitudes toward BMI screening in schools, even when adjusting for respondent demographics, practice setting, and proportion of patients in the practice who were overweight/obese (p < .001).

CONCLUSION: These data suggest MA pediatricians use BMI screening and support its clinical utility. However, support for school-based BMI screening was mixed. Urban-based pediatricians in this sample held more positive beliefs about screening in schools. Although active collaboration between schools and pediatricians would likely help to ensure that the screenings have a positive impact on child health regardless of location, it may be easier for urban-based schools and pediatricians to be successful in developing partnerships.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.