Kaiser pediatrician who won't comment on child's weight

We love our pediatrician- Dr. Shawnsa Johnson at Kaiser Oakland. I really can’t imagine her talking like this, especially in front of your child but you could send a message through their app or website before your appointment to let her know your concerns. 

Our KP pediatrician hasn't ever commented our daughter's weight, and she's on the heavy side, always has been. I am also overweight as is her dad who takes her to appointments. Her name is Sue Goddard in Oakland.

Nora Garcia-Zepeda - I had a "bigger" girl and she was specifically SO sensitive about this exact thing.

Dr Fischoff has been respectful and helpful to my son around weight issues. It might be worth emailing your pediatrician before your appointment to ask him/her to handle the subject delicately. Good luck!

Have you given your doctor feedback on your concerns?  I think any doctor you would see is likely going to raise the concern about childhood obesity if your child is indeed overweight, and you could simply find yourself repeating the process with other doctors.  You could easily share in a kp.org message that you'd prefer conversations about weight take place with you alone as the parent as a phone visit, and that during in-person visits the doctor not mention weight/concerns directly to the child.  I think most KP doctors would be very receptive and understanding that you're sensitive to the issue personally based on your history, and that you are already doing things at home to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.  Do recognize that KP sees the highest percentage of medicare/medical patients in the state, so they are very used to seeing patients come in very irregularly, not schedule well-checks, etc. so they are trying to be prudent and ensure they cover all the bases in the event they don't see your family again for another full year or more, in case you have not heard the info before, in case you were hoping the doctor would validate an open question in your mind and it opens a door to finally discuss it, etc.  This doctor is undoubtedly "on your side" and was well-intentioned, even if you received the comments as insensitive through the lens of your own, valid, and traumatic history with doctors warning you about obesity as a child.  I'd offer feedback before switching.  If you are still committed to a switch (and your daughter is approaching an age where a female doctor may be desired?), make sure you surface this request in advance or you're likely to repeat the experience!

Hi, I am so sorry you are having this experience.

My sister is a private practice pediatrician and we were just talking about this exact same topic. Doctors are required to cover some specific serious health issues or they don't get reimbursed through the payer. Kaiser is the same, their staff are at risk of not meeting specific health care requirements and goals that allow them to be underwritten by financial insurance companies. These requirements are not really patient driven, but more about future cost savings for preventable expensive health care conditions If you are a Kaiser adult patient and see your primary care physician and ob/gyn, you may recall that you always get asked about smoking and offered smoking cessation programs.

There are more tactful ways to discuss sensitive topics like weight, smoking, birth control, STD prevention, etc. You can talk to your child's pediatrician in advance about ways to make this a more positive, inspiring, productive conversation. Physicians can be the best resources to assist with health issues that are known to cause future (expensive) health issues. They can also help with support groups, medical testing to rule out other potential causes, ways to sleuth out possibly unknown sources of health threats (interestingly, my sister says that a report showed that grandparents are often the source of unknown high calories).

The bottom line is that you are the mom and you obviously care about your child's overall health. Maintaining a healthy weight is just one piece of a comprehensive health treatment and prevention plan.  

best wishes

We love Dr. Elizabeth Gray in Oakland. She is very receptive to hearing parents and educating them. I think if you contacted her ahead of time, she would be receptive to you. We only changed because our child tirned 13 and wanted a male doc.

I recommend Teshina Wilson in Pinole. 

I'm sorry that you've had to deal with that. Our family loves Dr. Cohen at Richmond Kaiser. He is very personable, knowledgeable, and kind. I would suggest emailing these concerns to whatever doctor you choose ahead of your appointment, so that they are aware and can be sensitive to your child's needs. Good luck!

I am also interested in finding a Kaiser ped who won’t fat shame my kid. My kid got her dad’s frame, which means she’s likely to be at best overweight, but even more likely genetically obese. My husband, when at his peak ( eating right, cycling 35-50 mikes per week) is 30 pounds overweight to when not at peak can be almost 100 pounds overweight. At his heaviest he has had  zero health problems-blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol all normal. He comes from big people who live to 100. My daughter got that gene and is  4-11 and 110 pounds at age 11.  She is on the swim team, runs, does rock climbing and mountain biking so is not a couch potato. She does eat too much, but could be as tall as 5’9” to 5’10”, so we aren’t pushing anything but a balanced diet. Ped showed her the height-weight chart and made her commit to one behavior change. She felt shamed but wouldn’t talk about it.She’s refusing to go to the doctor at all now and I don’t blame her at all! So yes, please any recommendations because other kids need non shaming doctors too!

We belong to Kaiser as well, and their doctors are hit and miss. I would definitely seek another dr asap... the good thing about Kaiser is that you can provide feedback via survey, which they take seriously, and make your doctor switch online, affective immediately. Hopefully you can get a few local referrals. Sending positive energy!