Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
10
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-10-31
pubmed:abstractText
Dietary interventions are sometimes necessary, even in young children; however, adhering to a diet can cause medical and psychosocial problems. Therefore, insight into frequency, reasons, and effectiveness is important. To establish the prevalence of dieting in children referred to a general paediatric outpatient clinic, parents of newly referred patients were given a structured questionnaire. Excluded were children whose parents did not speak Dutch, those younger than 3 months and emergency cases. Of 1826 patients, 907 (511 boys, 56%; median age 5 years, range 0-18 years) were included; 124 (13.7%, 95% CI 11.5%-15.9%) were or had been on a diet, more boys than girls (82/511 versus 42/396, P=0.02). In 60% of patients, the diet was started before the age of 2 years, 50% had been dieting longer than a year. Diets most used were: cow's milk free (62%), egg-free (20%), lactose-free (14%), no sugar (20%) and no colouring additives (20%). Reasons for dieting were gastrointestinal (51%), dermal (51%) and behavioural (27%) symptoms or complaints. Dieting was considered effective by the parents in 65% of cases and 61% reported no problems. Conclusion: One in eight children, referred to a general paediatric outpatient clinic is or has been dieting. Most parents reported positive effects with no problems. Some children were on a difficult-to-keep diet with serious medical and psychosocial implications, without being tested. Scientific evidence for dieting should be sought and the results discussed with the parents.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
0340-6199
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
160
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
595-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Dieting in children referred to the paediatric outpatient clinic.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Paediatrics, Medical Centre Leeuwarden-Noord, The Netherlands. famtt.devries@worldonline.nl
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article