Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3UWbVHPkBqU

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics is now out with its first advice in 15 years for parents of obese adolescents and the medical teams that care for them.  That advice is to attack obesity aggressively by offering medications to those 12 years and over and by considering bariatric, that is weight loss, surgery for those at least 13 years of age.

 

Kids exceeding the 95th percentile of those of the same age and gender for weight are considered obese, and some 20% of US adolescents meet that worrisome threshold.  This degree of overweight warrants more than lifestyle changes.

 

The good news is that we now have effective drugs such as semaglutide and a series of safe surgical procedures to effectively jumpstart weight reduction while clinician teams identify and initiate therapy for underlying medical and psychologic issues driving the weight issue.  The important element is a new aggressiveness in getting those pounds off.

 

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/doi/10.1542/peds.2022-060640/190443/Clinical-Practice-Guideline-for-the-Evaluation-and?autologincheck=redirected

 

#pediatrics #obesity #semaglutide #bariatric #surgery #psychology