Doctors Report Capacity To Manage Childhood Obesity Limited, Australia

Australia? Try the whole world.

"A new study has revealed GPs and pediatricians believe their capacity to effectively identify and manage childhood obesity is limited, due to barriers such as time constraints. 65 per cent of the doctors also perceived a shortfall in public sector dietitians to assist them in managing overweight and obese children, according to the study in Nutrition & Dietetics, published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Forty GPs and three pediatricians from New South Wales were interviewed about their capacity, knowledge, skill and confidence in managing overweight and obese children.

The doctors felt the health system needed to better support them in identifying and managing obesity in children - and 62 per cent were unaware of local services provided by dietitians.

'We need to be educating and encouraging doctors to refer overweight and obese children to nutrition experts as early as possible,' said co-author Julie McFarlane, an Accredited Practising Dietitian, from the Wyong Hospital."

And, of course, the "fix" is impossible.

That sick care professionals cannot meaningfully affect fat people's abusive behaviors was admitted long ago by the AMA (American).

(This, also of course, did not dissuade them from wanting to be compensated for their admittedly ineffective efforts.)

The same is true for dietitians and other so-called "nutrition experts."

They are ineffective.

More of them will not effectiveness make.

And if these docs "felt the health system needed to better support them in identifying...obesity in children," i.e., they do not know a fat kid when they see one, there is a much more fundamental problem Down Under.

The brightest spot in this article is:

"...62 per cent (of docs) were unaware of local services provided by dietitians."

This means that they cannot refer patients for doomed-to-fail services.

Be grateful for small favors.