Parents' Reports of Children's Physical and Sedentary Behavior Engagement among Parents in Weight Management.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between demographics, family exercise participation, family discouragement of exercise, and the children's physical and sedentary behaviors to identify specific areas of physical activity intervention for children with parents engaged in medical weight management (MWM). METHODS: Parents (n = 294) of children aged 2-18 years old were recruited from two university MWM programs to complete a one-time survey. Bivariate analyses tested associations. RESULTS: Parents reported that sedentary activity was higher for children who identified as racial minorities (t(141) = -2.05, p < 0.05). Mobile phone and tablet use was higher for adolescents compared to school age and young children (H(2) = 10.96, p < 01) Exercise game use was higher for racial minority children compared to white children (U = 9440.5, z = 2.47, p ≤ 0.03). Male children (t(284) = 1.83, p < 0.07), children perceived to have a healthy weight status (t(120) = 4.68, p < 0.00), and younger children (t(289) = 1.79, p < 0.08) all engaged in more strenuous physical activity. Family exercise participation (t(162) = -2.93, p < 0.01) and family discouragement of exercise (U = 7813.50, z = -2.06, p ≤ 0.04) were significantly higher for children in racial minority families. CONCLUSIONS: Future work should determine methods to engage children and their parents participating in MWM in physical activities together to ensure that the changes the parents are making with MWM are sustainable.

Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Primary Care Visits at Four Academic Institutions in the Carolinas.

We aimed to determine how COVID-19 affected the number and type of pediatric primary care visits in April 2020, compared to April 2019, and which characteristics were associated with obtaining care in 2020. We performed a retrospective chart review of patients receiving care in April 2019 and April 2020 from four large, academic institutions across two states. The subjects were included if they were aged 0-18 years and were seen in a pediatric clinic in April 2019 or April 2020. We extracted the number of visits, visit type, and visit diagnosis; and the patient characteristics, including age, race/ethnicity, and insurance status. Logistic regression analysis identified characteristics associated with obtaining care in April 2020. We included 120,230 visits. Participants were 50% white and half had Medicaid. In 2020 there were significantly fewer visits for both well and acute visits with 42,670 visits in 2020 compared to 77,560 in 2019; 6616 were telehealth visits in 2020. Visits for chronic conditions were significantly decreased in 2020. Attending a visit in 2020 was more likely if the participant was black or Hispanic, younger, attending an acute visit, or had private insurance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric primary care decreased substantially for both well visits and follow-up of chronic conditions.