Current teaching about obesity in Australian universities, specialist medical colleges  and through continuing medical education

Hayden, Melissa J; Piterman, Leon; Dixon, John B; O'Brien, Paul E

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00568.x

Topics

To the Editor: With obesity reaching epidemic proportions in Australia, professional education needs to reflect this increase in prevalence. Research has shown that health professionals’ lack of knowledge is a common barrier to providing care for overweight and obese individuals.1,2,3 We investigated the coverage of obesity education in university medical, dietetic and nursing curricula (partially replicating the earlier study in the Journal by Campbell and Welborn4), and also the extent to which obesity was covered in the curricula of selected professional specialist colleges in Australia. Contact hours for obesity were compared against two “control diseases”, diabetes and depression.

Centre for Obesity Research and Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: melissa.hayden@med.monash.edu.au

1. Block JP, DeSalvo KB, Fisher WP. Are physicians equipped to address the obesity epidemic? Knowledge and attitudes of internal medicine residents. Prev Med 2003; 36: 669-675.
2. Harris JE, Hamaday V, Mochan E. Osteopathic family physicians’ attitudes, knowledge, and self-reported practices regarding obesity. J Am Osteopath Assoc 1999; 99: 358-365.
3. Price JH, Desmond SM, Krol RA, et al. Family practice physicians’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding obesity. Am J Prev Med 1987; 3: 339-345.
4. Campbell LV, Welborn TA. Current teaching about obesity in Australian universities. Med J Aust 1994; 160: 583-584.

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