8 hours ago
New Strategy to Manage Childhood Obesity
Obesity is increasingly considered unpreventable, making early and aggressive treatment a priority to minimize comorbidities. Although 30% of adult obesity begins in childhood, the most effective treatments for childhood obesity — medication and surgery — are often delayed in favor of diet and exercise, which are largely ineffective.
In this ReCAP, Dr Janey Pratt, director of the Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford, California, points to a recent Cochrane database systematic review which showed school-based diet and exercise interventions did not prevent or reduce childhood obesity.
She goes on to explain the most recent American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guidelines which, for the first time, recommend that treatment, rather than watchful waiting, is indicated for childhood obesity.
Dr Pratt explains that FDA-approved obesity medications are an option for children as young as age 12, but surgery often has better long-term results. She outlines the medications available to treat childhood obesity, and then the 10-year outcomes of the Teen-LABS study, which show that half of adolescents who underwent bariatric surgery for obesity maintained significant weight loss.
She concludes that a strategy of surgery first, followed by medication if needed, can optimize childhood obesity management and avoid lifelong medication for some patients.
