A QUT PhD candidate is asking Rockhampton parents and health professionals to participate in her research project looking into who should take responsibility for assessing the weight of primary school children.
Kamila Davidson from QUT’s School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and the Centre for Children’s Health Research is taking her Assessing children's weight status in Australia - whose business is it? study to Rockhampton from 22 June from two weeks and is seeking local input.
Her study aims to broaden the responsibility of weight in children from GPs to other professionals and also ensure parents are part of the conversation.
“An alarming 25 per cent of Australian children are overweight or obese and the National Health and Medical Research Council's Obesity Guidelines recommend for health professionals at primary health care level to assess children's weight status as a part of "standard care",” Mrs Davidson said.
“Weight status assessment is the first step in addressing and managing overweight and obese children but it is not routinely occurring.
“There is lack of clarity on who is actually responsible for the undertaking of this assessment. Unlike the UK and the US, there is no system in place for routine assessing children's weight status in Australia.”
Mrs Davidson said as well as via GPs, assessments along obesity guidelines could be conducted by health care professions in other health care settings including pharmacies, community clinics and allied health clinics.
“There is very little known about these other health care settings with regard to assessment of children’s weight status,” she said.
“Plus our health system is very complex in terms of funding and structure. The responsibility for child health appears to be shared between the Commonwealth and States and Territories so it is challenging to find clear direction on who should be responsible for assessing children’s weight status.
“There is also limited data on parental opinions on childhood weight status assessment so we don’t know whether parents value having their children’s weight status assessed and whom they see as best positioned to undertake this check.”
Mrs Davidson has chosen to conduct her research in Rockhampton to get the perspective of regional parents and health care professionals.
“There is a need for more health services in regional areas such as Rockhampton, especially for child’s health and addressing childhood overweight. We know that overweight and obesity is higher in regional areas yet little is done to help understand complexities regarding addressing this health issue in these areas,” she said.
Mrs Davidson will also be presenting her research to date at the RUN; Regional Futures Conference in Rockhampton on 23 June 2016.
“I would like to invite Rockhampton-based health professionals who see children as a part of their professional role to share their expert opinion on this topic in either face-to-face or on the telephone interview, while parents can participate in an online survey which is anonymous and consists of multiple choice questions,” she said.
“The Parents’ survey opens on 20 June 2016 and will run throughout term three. It takes approximately five minutes and parents who complete it can enter the draw to win one of four $50 gift cards.”
For more information, email kamila.davidson@hdr.qut.edu.au or telephone 3069 7315.
QUT is part of a national collaborative group of five major Australian universities that form the ATN (Australian Technology Network of Universities).
Media contact:
Amanda Weaver, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, amanda.weaver@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au
