Author(s): Amen Ahmed Bawazir*, Rana Faisal kattan, Manal Saleh Bawazeer, Ghaziaa Mubarak Alanezi, Faisal Hassan Hussain, Bander Hassan Dallak, Khaled M Al-Suri
Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the attitude of the health care providers working in main referral hospitals in Riyadh city regarding management of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents and to identify the main barriers of implementing prevention and control program. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey targeting all paediatric practitioners including paediatric physicians and nurses who were available during the study period. A self-administered questionnaire was used which include demographic characteristics and the measures of attitudes, barriers, information source, previous training, future continuous training about management of obesity and overweight among child and adolescent. Data analysis was performed using SPSS package. Results: findings showed that most physicians and nurses reported that childhood overweight and obesity are important public health problems and needs proper management (67.5%- 76.5%) and considered as a future chronic disease risk (71.1%, 73.0%) that would affect the future quality of life (85.0%, 73.9%). Paediatricians were less likely to report low proficiency in behavioural management, providing guidance in parenting techniques and in addressing family conflicts (32.4%, 34.3, 37.8%, respectively); For nurses, very low proficiency were also reported in almost all the statements related to perceived skills, ranging from 8.5% to 17.6%, with a significant differences in proficiency when compared between paediatricians and nurses (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study findings might help to identify several areas to be improved in promoting engagement of health care professionals in managing overweight and obesity among children. Raising burden of overweight and obesity require integration and collaboration between different key partners to empower direct role of health care providers at health care settin