New guidance: Use drugs, and surgery early for obesity in kids

As per the latest obesity guidelines focused on kids, medication and surgery are suggested for those as young as 12 and 13 respectively. Read to know more.

What do the latest obesity guidelines say?

As per the new guidelines released Monday, children struggling with obesity must undergo evaluation and be treated as early as possible. The usual practice of “watchful waiting” or postponing treatment to see if kids and teens overcome the problem can affect more than 14.4 million youngsters in the US. “Waiting doesn’t work. What we see is a continuation of weight gain and the likelihood that they’ll have (obesity) in adulthood,” stated Dr. Ihuoma Eneli. Dr. Eneli si the co-author of the first guidance on child obesity. Additionally, she is the director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics is setting an age at which kids and teens must be offered treatments including drugs and surgery in addition to diets, lifestyle changes, and exercises. As per Dr. Sandra Hassink, the new policies are aiming to reset the wrong view of the issue as “a personal problem, maybe a failure of the person’s diligence”. “This is not different than you have asthma and now we have an inhaler for you,” she added. Dr. Hassink is the co-author of the policy. Additionally, she is also the medical director for the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood weight.

More on the new health policy for children:

Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal about 20 percent of all teens and children in the US suffer from obesity. Additionally, it affects about 42 percent of adults in the country. “Obesity is not a lifestyle problem. It is not a lifestyle disease. It predominately emerges from biological factors,” stated Aaron Kelly. Kelly is the co-director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota. The obesity guidelines for children come as new medical treatments focussing on children are on the rise. In December 2022, a weekly injection for use in kids over the age of 12 was approved for us in the US. Recent studies reveal the injection helped teens in reducing their BMI by an average of 16 percent.

However, one expert in pediatric obesity is cautious against turning to surgery or drugs very quickly. “It’s not that I’m against the medications. However, I’m against the willy-nilly use of those medications without addressing the cause of the problem,” stated Dr. Robert Lustig. Dr. Lustig is an experienced pediatric endocrinology specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. He believes children must undergo individual evaluation for a better understanding of the factors that are contributing to their weight gain. Hence, he emphasizes the need to cut ultra-processed foods rich in sugar and low in fiber.