We may soon see doctors taking a more proactive approach when it comes to children with obesity. This is because the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued new guidelines calling for the use of medications and even surgeries in dealing with childhood obesity.
The AAP said more than 14.4 million U.S. children and teens live with a “common chronic disease that has been stigmatized for years” and is associated with serious short and long-term health concerns when left untreated, including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The disease is obesity, and the AAP says it can be treated successfully with the “recognition that complex genetic, physiologic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors are at play.”
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What was once performed only in the most extreme cases of obesity now seems to be standard practice these days – Bariatric Surgery. The Mayo Clinic explains Gastric bypass and other weight-loss surgeries — known collectively as bariatric surgery —involve making changes to your digestive system to help you lose weight. Bariatric surgery is done when diet and exercise haven’t worked or when you have serious health problems because of your weight. Some procedures limit how much you can eat. Other procedures work by reducing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. Some procedures do both.
While bariatric surgery can offer many benefits for obesity sufferers, all forms of weight-loss surgery are major procedures that can pose serious risks and side effects. Also, you must make permanent healthy changes to your diet and get regular exercise to help ensure the long-term success of bariatric surgery.
We see this everywhere we go. What was once the exception among children and teens now seems to be the norm. The rise in youth obesity rates is generally attributed to the increased consumption of sugar drinks, which come in huge sizes everywhere from fast food restaurants to movie theaters. Also, cakes, cookies and all sorts of yogurts and puddings with added sugars fill the shelves of supermarkets. So, what was once a specialty item is now consumed by people everywhere every day.
“Weight is a sensitive topic for most of us, and children and teens are especially aware of the harsh and unfair stigma that comes with being affected by it,” said Sarah Hampl, MD, a lead author of the guideline, created by a multidisciplinary group of experts in various fields, along with primary care providers and a family representative.
“Research tells us that we need to take a close look at families,” she added, “where they live, their access to nutritious food, health care and opportunities for physical activity–as well as other factors that are associated with health, quality-of- life outcomes and risks. Our kids need the medical support, understanding and resources we can provide within a treatment plan that involves the whole family.”
