New guidelines have been published American Academy of Pediatrics for evaluation and treatment fat in overweight children, publishing a 73-page text arguing that being overweight should not be stigmatized as the result of poor personal choice, but as a symptom of a multifactorial disease with short-term as well as long-term health consequences. These Academy recommendations, the first in 15 years, urge doctors to take a gradual but decisive approach to changing the lifestyle of overweight children, prescribing drugs to reduce weight and, if necessary, even resorting to surgery. “Obesity can start even at a young age, and it won’t go away without treatment,” says pediatrician Sarah Happle of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Missouri, who led the group that wrote the guidelines. Dr. Aaron Kelly of the University of Minnesota Children’s Obesity Center, who was not involved in the preparation of the report, says: “This is a significant shift in experience. Everyone prefers to simplify obesity. However, his treatment is not only about the child’s diet and the need for additional physical activity.

20% of children in the US are obese, a phenomenon that seems to have increased during the pandemic. While there is more and more evidence that people of all body weights can be healthy as long as they exercise, childhood obesity often comes with health risks. “We are seeing an increase in hypertension and high cholesterol, as well as cases of type 2 diabetes in obese children,” says Dr. Callie Brown of Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

According to new recommendations, the most effective treatment for obese children is participation in intensive behavior change programs. These programs introduce the child and his family to coaches, nutritionists and even chefs in order to plan a healthier lifestyle. The Academy recommends 26 hours of counseling therapy for obese children and their families for a minimum of three months.

And surgery

The Academy also recommends the use of drugs, even surgical ones, for special categories of obese children and youth aged 12 and over. The recommendation caused an uproar on social media. At the same time, some experts emphasize that such interventions may be harmful to the child, since many of the innovative anti-obesity drugs have been on the market for only a few years and their side effects are not well understood.

“If you read the study and don’t look at the sensational headlines, you will find that the recommendations are very sensible and benign. Parents are asked to find a solution in collaboration with many experts. They don’t prioritize surgery or drugs as the first line of action,” says Dr. Mona Amin, a Florida pediatrician who was not involved in the Academy of Pediatrics research project, and emphasizes the importance of not blaming overweight children and their families.