Anticipatory Guidance about Child Diet and Physical Activity for Latino Farmworker Mothers.

BACKGROUND: This analysis describes farmworker child health care utilization, anticipatory guidance for child weight, and the association of anticipatory guidance with personal characteristics, practice characteristics, and child's health care utilization.

METHODS: Data are from interviews conducted with 221 North Carolina Latino farmworker mothers with a child aged 4-5 years.

RESULTS: Half of the children were healthy weight, 19.0% were overweight, and 28.5% were obese. Most (56.4%) had been with the usual practice for two years or longer; most had well-child visits less frequently than once per year (71.5%). Fewer children with well-child visits than without were obese (14.8% vs. 35.5%; p=.01). More children with obesity than with healthy weight or overweight received guidance messages; more children without a well-child care visit in the past 12 months received guidance messages.

CONCLUSIONS: Health care providers are addressing anticipatory guidance when the opportunity arises. Creative approaches to address disparate primary care for farmworker families are important.