School-Based Health Center Providers' Treatment of Overweight Children

This descriptive study was to determine self-reported treatment practices of school-based health center (SBHC) providers when caring for overweight/obese children. Providers (N = 33) from SBHCs in 6 states (AZ, CO, NM, MI, NY, and NC) completed a baseline survey before being trained on obesity recommendations. SBHC providers reported patient/parent barriers to be more significant to treatment than clinician/setting barriers (p < 0.0001). Most providers (97%) indicated childhood overweight needs treatment, yet only 36% said they initiate treatment in children who do not want to control their weight. SBHC providers also did not commonly refer overweight/obese children to specialists.