Obesity Research & Clinical Practice (2008) 2, 189—194 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Are general practitioners ready and willing to tackle obesity management? Laurien M. Buffart a , Margaret Allman-Farinelli b , Lesley A. King b , Hidde P. van der Ploeg c,* , Ben J. Smith d , John Kurko e , Adrian E. Bauman c a Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands b Centre for Overweight and Obesity, University of Sydney, School of Public Health, Sydney, Australia c Centre for Physical Activity and Health, University of Sydney, School of Public Health, Sydney, Australia d Department of Health Science, Monash University, Frankston, Australia e National Heart Foundation of Australia, Sydney, Australia Received 30 April 2008; accepted 30 April 2008 KEYWORDS General practitioners; Obesity; Overweight; Management; Counselling Summary Objective: To investigate general practitioners’ (GPs’) knowledge, role perception, confidence and practices of managing adult and childhood overweight and obe- sity, and to explore the association with GPs’ attendance at Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on overweight and obesity. Methods: In 2007, all GPs in seven Divisions of general practice in New South Wales were sent a questionnaire on GPs perceptions and practices of weight counselling. Results: 646 GPs participated (40% response rate). About half of the GPs (47%) believed that only a small percentage of adults could reduce weight and main- tain that loss, whereas 33% had a similar belief in relation to children. Most GPs believed that it was their role to manage weight and felt confident to do so with adults, but fewer GPs felt confident in managing children. Nevertheless, just over one-third of GPs reported they counselled more than 10 adult patients, and a similar proportion counselled more than 3 children per week. GPs who felt more confident were more likely to counsel adults (OR = 2.69, p = 0.001) and children (OR = 3.31, p < 0.001). Those who received CPD were more likely to feel confident in managing adults (OR = 1.56, p = 0.031) and children (OR = 2.19, p < 0.001). * Corresponding author at: Centre for Physical Activity and Health, University of Sydney, Level 2, Medical Foundation Building (K25), Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 9036 3288; fax: +61 2 9036 3184. E-mail address: hiddep@health.usyd.edu.au (H.P. van der Ploeg). 1871-403X/$ — see front matter © 2008 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2008.04.008