Assessing the Needs of Physical Activity in a Pediatric Weight Management Clinic

Objective: This study determined the type of physical activity support patients wanted while receiving treatment at the Pediatric Healthy Weight Research and Treatment Center. Methods: A sample of 27 parents/patients were interviewed using a Physical Activity Needs Assessment questionnaire to determine current physical activity behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge, along with assessing the wants and needs for future physical activity interventions. The questionnaire was competed by children between the ages of 12-17 years, but for children between 5-11 years of age their parents completed the questionnaire. Results: The average age of the participants was 11.4 ± 2.75 years. The majority of participants that attended the clinic were male and the largest racial/ethnic group was Black, Non-Hispanic, followed by White, Non-Hispanic. The average BMI percent of the 95th percentile was 149.00 ± 32.58\; meaning the majority of patients seen at the clinic were class 3 obesity. Nearly half of the sampled children attending this weight management clinic participated in aerobic physical activity for 60 minutes 5-7 days a week (44%) and only 33% of parents/patients were knowledgeable of current youth physical activity recommendations. In terms of the needs assessment, participants had a positive view of physical activity and noted benefits related to health, enjoyment, and social aspects. Patients’ preference on receiving information about physical activity was as follows: face-to-face group meetings, face-to-face individual meetings, and videoconferencing. Lastly, the patients’ top interests of topics to learn about included fitness components such as aerobic physical activity, muscle building physical activity, bone building, and calories being burned during physical activity. Discussion: These findings can be useful to design future physical activity interventions targeting obese youth obtaining medical treatment. Based on the study findings, future studies should design an intervention that is face-to-face discussing physical activity recommendations, fitness components, and activities that can be done at home with friends or family