Sept. 5, 2024
Children and adolescents are at an important time in their lives when it comes to weight assessment and nutrition counseling. The National Committee for Quality Assurance recommends that primary care practitioners or OB/GYNs who assess children and adolescents ages 3 to 17 years have evidence of:
- Body mass index percentile documentation
- Counseling for nutrition
- Counseling for physical activity
We track this data for the NCQA quality measure Weight Assessment and Counseling for Nutrition and Physical Activity for Children/Adolescents. Because BMI norms for children and adolescents vary with age and gender, this measure evaluates whether BMI percentile is assessed, rather than an absolute BMI value.
Tips to Consider to Close Gap in Care
- Document date of service and BMI percentile as a value or plotted on an age-growth chart in your medical records.
- Discuss current nutrition and physical activity behaviors with our members and their caregivers. We created a resource for our members on helping kids watch what they eat that may be helpful.
- Provide anticipatory guidance for nutrition and specific to the member’s physical activity.
- If appropriate, provide counseling or refer our members to counseling for nutrition education, physical activity and weight or obesity counseling.
- Document whether you discussed these topics with the member or provided educational materials during a face-to-face visit.
Learn More
See our Children’s Wellness Guidelines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on their Raising Healthy Children page.
The above material is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician or other health care provider. Physicians and other health care providers are encouraged to use their own medical judgment based upon all available information and the condition of the patient in determining the appropriate course of treatment. The fact that a service or treatment is described in this material is not a guarantee that the service or treatment is a covered benefit and members should refer to their certificate of coverage for more details, including benefits, limitations and exclusions. Regardless of benefits, the final decision about any service or treatment is between the member and their health care provider.