American Academy of Pediatrics Releases New Guideline to Treat Obesity in Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released new guidelines for children suffering from obesity.

The goal is to help patients change their lifestyle, behaviors, or environment sustainably and involve families in decision-making at every step.

The APP and the medical field usually use the body mass index (BMI) as an indicator of obesity in children. This indicator is not just used here in America but widely in the medical field around the globe.

The BMI indicates a child's health but does not provide comprehensive accuracy. It also does not account for several factors, such as body composition, ethnicity, race, gender, and age. 

American Academy of Pediatrics New Guidelines

USA Today reports that the new guidelines are designed to consider not only the child's BMI but also the child as a whole, considering both internal and environmental influences. 

The recently published recommendations can be utilized for diagnosing and treating obese children and adolescents.

Obesity in the United States is a prevalent chronic disease that has been stigmatized for years. The country is experiencing a crisis level of childhood obesity.

When left untreated, obesity can cause short- and long-term health concerns that could pose health risks to a child. These risks can include diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

According to verywellFamily, it affects more than 14.4 million children and adolescents in the United States. This disease has been called "the silent epidemic."

The new APP guidelines highlight the role of a primary care physician in supervising intensive and long-term care methods, continuing medical monitoring, and treatment of children and adolescents who are obese.

The new study also includes a very active approach to treating obesity. They incorporate, for the very first time, the use of medicine and bariatric surgery as treatment options for obesity.

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Treating obesity in children

The guideline includes several essential steps, each of which is supported by evidence and includes a recommendation for evaluating and treating children who are overweight or obese children and other health concerns associated with these conditions.

This new study recognizes that there are more factors explaining why children are obese than just a lack of physical activity, overeating, and not following a healthy diet.

This method considers the child's family dynamics, current health status, the context of the community, and available resources.

These recommendations include metabolic and bariatric surgery, motivational interviewing, intensive treatment for unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and health behaviors, medication, and more.

According to the AAP, research indicates that we must look closely at families to develop a sustainable solution for treating childhood obesity. This means examining their access to nutritious food, where they live, physical activities, and healthcare.

In addition, they are looking at other aspects of one's life that have been linked to living a healthy and quality life.

The newly developed, all-encompassing treatment for obesity may involve nutritional counseling, treatment for physical inactivity, behavioral therapy, medication, as well as metabolic and bariatric surgery.

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