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Table 2 Frequency of activities provided in typical consultations with young children, aged 0–5 years

From: Promoting healthy weight for all young children: a mixed methods study of child and family health nurses’ perceptions of barriers and how to overcome them

 

No. of responses

Proportion of consultations, n (%)

Never to sometimes (≤50%)

Often to mostly

(≥51%)

Feeding advice and support

 Encouraging continuation of breastfeeding in breastfeeding mothers

87

12 (13.8)

75 (86.2)

 Offering water as the main drink for children ≥12 months

87

12 (13.8)

75 (86.2)

 When to introduce solids to infants

87

14 (16.1)

73 (83.9)

 How to introduce solids to infants

87

13 (14.9)

74 (85.1)

 Parents eating meals with their children

87

14 (16.1)

73 (83.9)

 Limiting intake of sweetened drinks

87

12 (13.8)

75 (86.2)

 Increasing fruit and vegetable intake

87

27 (31.0)

60 (69.0)

 Limiting high sugar and/or high fat foods

86

28 (32.6)

58 (67.4)

 Provide correct formula preparation advice to parents who are formula feeding their infants

87

47 (54.0)

40 (46.0)

Behaviour advice and support

 Sleep and settling techniques for infants

88

13 (14.8)

75 (85.2)

 Limiting TV or other screen-based activities

88

30 (34.1)

58 (65.9)

 Limiting TV and electronic media use to ≤1 h/daily for children aged 2–5 years

86

33 (38.4)

53 (61.6)

 Increasing active play for young children

87

36 (41.4)

51 (58.6)

Growth charts and measurements

 Measure height and weight of children aged ≤2 years

87

7 (8.0)

80 (92.0)

 Plot height and weight of children aged ≤2 years on growth chart

87

9 (10.3)

78 (89.7)

 Use growth or BMI chart to identify infant or child at risk of overweight or obesity

84

37 (44.0)

47 (56.0)

 Measure height and weight of children aged ≥2 years

87

40 (46.0)

47 (54.0)

 Calculate BMI of children aged ≥2 years and plot on BMI percentile chart

85

49 (57.6)

36 (42.4)

Referral to other services

 Referral to an allied health professional

33a

22 (66.6)

11 (33.3)

 Referral to dietitian

87

75 (86.2)

12 (13.8)

 Referral to weight management clinic

87

80 (92.0)

7 (8.0)

  1. BMI body mass index.
  2. a Some respondents using the paper survey did not indicate how often they referred to allied health professionals. 51 respondents reported referring to allied health, with the most common referral being to dietitians (24), speech pathologists (20), physiotherapists (15), and occupational therapists (14), as well as feeding clinics, dental services, psychologists and lactation consultants