Food insecurity and obesity in New York City primary care clinics.

Background: Hunger continues to be a problem in New York City; paradoxically, the city also has disproportionally high rates of diabetes and obesity. Some research suggests that food insecurity leads to obesity.

Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional "card study" in which doctors working at 8 New York City area primary care practices administered a brief, anonymous survey to patients they saw during clinic sessions.

Counseling to prevent obesity among preschool children: acceptability of a pilot urban primary care intervention.

Purpose: To help design effective primary care-based interventions, we explored urban parents' reactions to a pilot and feasibility study designed to address risk behaviors for obesity among preschool children.

Methods: We conducted 3 focus groups (2 in English, 1 in Spanish) to evaluate the pilot intervention. Focus group participants explored the acceptability of the pilot intervention components (completion of a new screening tool for risk assessment, discussion of risk behaviors and behavior change goal setting by physicians, and follow-up contacts with a lifestyle counselor) and the fidelity of the pilot intervention delivery.

Implementation of a pilot primary care lifestyle change intervention for families of pre-school children: lessons learned.

Objective: We used Glasgow's RE-AIM framework to evaluate the feasibility of a primary care-based intervention to decrease behaviors that place urban children at risk for obesity.

Methods: During preventive visits of 2-5-year olds between February 2006 and May 2007, parents completed a health behavior assessment. Primary care providers engaged parents in brief goal setting and referred them to a lifestyle counselor.