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Phyllis Nsiah-Kumi, M.D. |
These are words many parents hear from their children’s health care providers.
Knowing the potential health risks associated with family history of diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease is critically important for any young patient. But a new study examines if parental influence on healthy behaviors and habits makes a difference.
“What was most surprising was that parents had greater concern for boys’ potential development of diabetes than girls,” said Phyllis Nsiah-Kumi, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at UNMC. “According to other studies, overweight girls have an increased risk of developing diabetes. In fact, in every age group, women have greater lifetime diabetes risk.”
Despite the increased risk of developing diabetes, parents who had not graduated from college, parents who were black or Hispanic and parents of girls had a lower perception of risk for their overweight children.
“As a point of contrast, we found parents with overweight children and family history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease were more aware of the potential risks for their children,” Dr. Nsiah-Kumi said.
Dr. Nsiah-Kumi led the study to examine the relationship between family history and parental perception of their child’s risk of developing diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease. The results were published in the February issue of the journal Academic Pediatrics.
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“Understanding parents’ perception of risk for their children is an important first step in introducing community-wide interventions to combat pediatric obesity and decrease the risk for type 2 diabetes in the next generation in all populations,” Dr. Larsen said.
Dr. Nsiah-Kumi, who has a master’s degree in public health, said the study’s results point to a larger community concern with an important call to action for clinicians. An important aspect of this study analyzes the clinician’s role in discussing family history and risk with parents.
“As health care providers, we must continue to talk to parents about a child’s excess weight and the potential impact on their future health,” she said. “We should also talk to parents about the importance of modeling healthy behaviors for their children.
“Often, we will counsel overweight patients about exercise and diet. But healthy patients need the same advice. In addition, we should be more diligent about collecting family history data on an annual basis and discussing significant risks with our patients.”