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Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition

Treating Obesity With GLP-1s — Finding the Way Forward
 Treating Obesity With GLP-1s — Finding the Way Forward 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Using lessons learned from medicating mental and behavioral health conditions, Stephen Cook, MD, offers suggestions about how medications approved for adolescents with obesity should become part of care.   For most of the time in Western medicine, people have treated obesity like a choice — not a disease. Like other conditions now understood to be…

Patient Perspective: Living With Weight-Based Stigma
 Patient Perspective: Living With Weight-Based Stigma 1024 376 Alaina Doklovic
By: Alaina Doklovic

In 2019, 15-year-old Paige watched her father die from a disease that was consistently ignored, and his symptoms repeatedly blamed on his weight. He had stage 4 cancer by the time he was properly diagnosed. Shortly after his death, her mother had a 40-pound cyst removed, a surgery that she and other doctors believe could…

Weight-Based Stigma and Its Impact on Children With Obesity
 Weight-Based Stigma and Its Impact on Children With Obesity 1024 376 Alaina Doklovic
By: Alaina Doklovic

More children in the United States live with obesity than any other chronic condition. The obesity rate among U.S. children and teens has more than tripled since 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although there are numerous efforts underway to help children and adults reach and maintain a healthy weight,…

How Do Treatments for Adolescent Obesity Compare?
 How Do Treatments for Adolescent Obesity Compare? 1024 682 Pam Georgiana
By: Pam Georgiana

A recent review of the literature highlights current treatment strategies for adolescent obesity. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), obesity and severe obesity are chronic health conditions with increasing incidence in adolescents, putting them at risk for associated comorbidities. Obesity affects approximately 21% of adolescents (12 to 18 years of age) in the…

Pediatric Obesity Can Be Treated Safely and Effectively
 Pediatric Obesity Can Be Treated Safely and Effectively 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasize evidence for safe, effective treatment of pediatric obesity for long-term benefit of children and adolescents.   More than 14.4 million U.S. children and adolescents have obesity, making it one of the most common chronic conditions facing American youth and families. Obesity is a chronic disease associated…

Significant Weight Gain Observed in Low-Income Youth During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic
 Significant Weight Gain Observed in Low-Income Youth During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic 150 150 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
By: JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM

Low-income youth experienced significant weight gain during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for simultaneous childhood obesity prevention and treatment.   The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent mitigation efforts profoundly affected children. Specifically, remote learning and cancellation of extracurricular activities disrupted children’s daily routines and reduced opportunities for physical activity, increasing…

Perceptions About Type 2 Diabetes Differ Among Adolescent Patients, Parents and Physicians
 Perceptions About Type 2 Diabetes Differ Among Adolescent Patients, Parents and Physicians 1024 683 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
By: JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM

Differing perceptions about type 2 diabetes among teens, parents and physicians can create barriers to diagnosing and managing the disease.   Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is becoming increasingly prevalent in adolescents, with a median age of diagnosis of 13.5 years in the pediatric population. Managing pediatric T2D is challenging, given that traditional medical and non-medical…

Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Recommended for Adolescents With Severe Obesity
 Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Recommended for Adolescents With Severe Obesity 150 150 Kevin Mayhood
By: Kevin Mayhood

Growing evidence shows the procedures reduce weight and comorbidities immediately and lower risk for associated diseases in adolescence and adulthood. Metabolic and bariatric surgery has been established in adults for more than 50 years. Studies now indicate the procedures are safe and appear to be the only therapy that enables severely obese adolescents to keep…

Weight-Loss Surgery in Teens with Severe Obesity Offers Greater Benefits Than Waiting Until Adulthood
 Weight-Loss Surgery in Teens with Severe Obesity Offers Greater Benefits Than Waiting Until Adulthood 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
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Research reveals that gastric bypass surgery during the teen years offers a greater chance of reversal of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure than when the surgery is delayed until adulthood.

After Bariatric Surgery, Adolescents Show Decreased Risk for Cardiovascular Disease
 After Bariatric Surgery, Adolescents Show Decreased Risk for Cardiovascular Disease 150 150 Gina Bericchia
By: Gina Bericchia

Three years after surgery, only 5 percent of study participants had three or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease, a significant reduction from 33 percent before surgery. Adolescents with severe obesity who had bariatric surgery showed significant improvements in cardiovascular disease risk factors, according to the most recent “Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery” (Teen-LABS)…

Promising Practices and Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhoods for Childhood Obesity
 Promising Practices and Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhoods for Childhood Obesity 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD
By: Tiasha Letostak, PhD

An algorithm for assessment and management of childhood obesity, along with patient-centered medical neighborhoods, provides avenues for comprehensive weight management for children 2 years and older. Although childhood obesity affects 17 percent of children in the United States, and nearly one-quarter of these children are overweight, only a few centers in the country provide evidence-based…

Severely Obese by Kindergarten: What’s a Doctor to Do?
 Severely Obese by Kindergarten: What’s a Doctor to Do? 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD
By: Tiasha Letostak, PhD

The numbers of children and adolescents with severe obesity have continued to rise in the past 30 years, but only a few centers provide evidence-based care for severe childhood obesity. Childhood obesity affects 17 percent of children in the United States, and nearly one-third of these children are severely obese. The prevalence rates of children…

Psychological Strategies for Pediatric Weight Management
 Psychological Strategies for Pediatric Weight Management 150 150 Tyanna Snider, Psy.D
By: Tyanna Snider, Psy.D

Motivational interviewing, having developmentally appropriate expectations, and behavioral strategies are among the tools needed to support pediatric weight management. Almost everyone has tried to stop a bad habit or change a negative behavior – it’s hard! Think about all the New Year’s resolutions you’ve made, and how successful you have been at keeping or reaching…

Do Overly Restrictive Feeding Practices Contribute to Obesity?
 Do Overly Restrictive Feeding Practices Contribute to Obesity? 150 150 Anne Unger
By: Anne Unger

Researchers are discovering that the way caregivers feed their kids may be just as important as what they give them to eat. It is estimated that by 2020, 16 million kids under the age of 5 will be obese. Currently, most public health initiatives are focused on promoting healthy eating and physical activity to reverse…