With childhood obesity skyrocketing, the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines Monday for treating the disease.
The main takeaways are an emphasis on early and intensive behavioral and lifestyle changes for children, as well as the realization that watching, waiting or delaying treatment is not helpful for children.
The guidance comes as childhood obesity rates have continued to rise, increasing from 17% to 20% in the last 15 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For the first time, the group's guidance sets ages at which kids and teens should be offered medical treatments such as drugs and surgery — in addition to intensive diet, exercise and other behavior and lifestyle interventions. Some of the kids could be as young as 12.
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This has come as quite a shock to many members of the medical community.
“I think the shock about surgery is thinking people are looking for a quick fix, and assuming they’re not willing to do the work," said pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. Aniruddh Setya with Kidz Medical Services in Hollywood. "But to qualify for surgical guidelines a teenager would have to do six months of intensive behavioral therapy, meet specific criteria and fail to lose weight. Then they’d qualify for surgery."
But the guidelines call for surgery only as an option for children 12 and up and after going through counseling. They will be eligible for surgery if they fail to lose weight after an intense six-month program of diet and exercise.
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The new guidelines, however, preach that prevention and intervention are key.
“Don’t wait and watch, get very proactive," Setya said. "Treat this like a disease and as a chronic disease, which means you have medications, surgery and lifestyle treatment which is the cornerstone of treatment for these kids.”
And in the last 30 years, childhood obesity rates have tripled. Obese children are at a higher risk for asthma, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, bone and joint problems, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
According to Florida Health Charts, in 2021, over 32% of Florida public middle and high school students reported being overweight or obese.
And COVID-19 only matters worse. One CDC report found that the rate of weight gain nearly doubled in 2020, compared with pre-pandemic years.
If you are wondering how to get proactive, model good eating habits at home, remove any junk food that kids may have access to, and encourage physical activity either outside or at a playground.
