To investigate conversations between nurses and parents in Swedish child health services and to assess to what extent attention is directed towards dietary and physical activity behaviours in children.
Twenty-three nurses audio-recorded one session each. Recordings were assessed and topics were classified according to predetermined categories.
The three most frequent topics of conversation concerned physical examinations of the child (30% of session time), talking to the child to establish or maintain contact and interest (15%), and development of language skills (12%). Dietary habits came on fourth place (10%), and physical activity ranked 14 (4%).
Attention to dietary and physical activity behaviours in children is infrequent in Swedish child health services. Concern is raised about the efficacy of prevention efforts against childhood obesity.