Pediatric weight management amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a natural telemedicine experiment

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 shutdown, our pediatric weight management center instituted telemedicine and expanded educational content on Facebook. The aims of this study were to assess telemedicine utilization and social media engagement (optional). We performed a retrospective chart review and examined Facebook posts. During the first 6 weeks of the pandemic, 129 patients completed a telemedicine visit (52 non-completers). Completers were less likely to be Medicaid-insured (OR 0.252). Families engaged most with Facebook exercise content (avg. views: 449). Further analysis is necessary to determine how to make telemedicine accessible for low-income families and to determine if social media engagement improves anthropometric outcomes.