Firstly, there were quite a number of health care centres which refused participation, for which reason it is possible that the participants came from centres which had taken an active interest in weight management.
Before April 2003, physicians refused participation for 2% of cases.
During recruitment only one person refused participation for reasons not related to the study.
In all, 350 mothers and children participated in the first stage of the study while an additional 9 mothers refused participation for reasons of lack of interest and/or time, thus response rate was 97.5%.
Twenty-seven refused participation (for geographical reasons or no interest), 12 said that they would like to participate but never returned their questionnaires or did not complete the full questionnaire; 22 families did not respond at all.
Demographics will be collected from eligible patients and family members who refuse participation in the study for comparison with participating patients and family members.
Participant assessment of risk is very important in terms of the decision to consent or refuse participation in RCTs; both for women in deciding about their own participation, and for parents in deciding about the participation of their baby.
The commitment of Mennonites (a Christian group originating during the 16th century) to refuse participation in acts of war, for example, affects the character of their worship as well as of their general religious life.
All patients who do not meet our inclusion criteria and/or refuse participation to the trial, will be asked for their consent for registration in a prospective database.
