Training Health Care Professionals to Manage Overweight Adolescents: Experience in Rural Georgia Communities

Abstract

Practitioners complied with the assessment and follow-up protocol, leading to the discovery of previously unrecognized risk factors in many overweight adolescent patients. Lack of patient adherence to follow-up was the greatest limiting factor for obesity management. Further efforts are needed to implement and evaluate training to improve the management of adolescent overweight, especially in rural communities.