To the Editor;
THE IMPORTANCE OF DISSEMINATION EFFORTS OF PAEDIATRIC CANADIAN CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES ON THE MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION OF OBESITY
The article cited above reported the views, practices, perceived barriers and needs of Canadian primary health care providers related to childhood overweight and obesity, and found that health providers felt inadequately resourced or supported to address this important public health issue. In particular, the authors identified an urgent need for improved dissemination of the Canadian clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) relating to paediatric obesity, and a paucity of tools and resources for busy practitioners.
Obesity is a multifaceted, complex condition for which there are presently no satisfactory solutions for clients or providers in our current health care system (1–3). The study by He et al demonstrated that this is not only a systems level issue, but one that is felt by health professionals in their everyday practice. Members of the Treatment and Research of Obesity in Pediatrics In Canada (TROPIC) network have been working to address these gaps, in part through the development of an education tool for health care practitioners designed to disseminate the 15 paediatric recommendations from the CPGs.
The tool, created by Canadian experts in paediatric obesity, is an electronic slide set that clearly identifies each recommendation specific to the paediatric population and provides supplementary information about how to implement the recommendations. Canadian Obesity Network members may download the tool and user guides for free at www.obesitynetwork.ca/pediatrics. Evaluation of the tool and its dissemination is being conducted, and the results will be presented at the 2011 National Obesity Summit in Montreal, Quebec.
With the creation of a dissemination tool specific to the paediatric recommendations of the 2006 Canadian CPGs, we anticipate that an important step toward increasing health care practitioner knowledge of the CPGs and providing a tool relevant to the busy health care practitioner is underway, thereby addressing the gap highlighted in the paper by He et al.
REFERENCES
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