Posts Tagged ‘childhood obesity’

A new study in Lancet suggests that we are overdue for fresh thinking about early childhood obesity prevention. This is because programs built upon a premise of engaging parents in the effort turn out to be ineffective. The conclusions of this research are stark: “This study is the most comprehensive individual participant data meta-analysis in […]

The new MAHA (Making America Healthy Again) report on the health of American children is out and, in a word, things are terrible. In the words of the report, “it presents the stark reality of American children’s declining health.” We have a whole generation at risk because of toxic chemicals, ultra-processed food, unnecessary medical treatments, […]

A new viewpoint in JAMA Pediatrics articulates a concern we hear repeatedly about the Lancet Commission on Clinical Obesity. Pediatric obesity experts have reservations about applying the concept of preclinical obesity in pediatrics. Melania Manco is a professor of pediatrics, clinical research scientist, and consultant endocrinologist at the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome. She writes: […]

This is puzzling. When we saw a new systematic review of therapies for childhood obesity, we were intrigued. It popped up in JAMA Network Open on Friday, clearly focused on central (abdominal) obesity in youth. The authors used waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, and WC z-score as measures of this. But there is […]

These are indeed interesting times for folks who care about the need that so many people have for obesity care. Medicines for obesity, with the advent of GLP-1 agonists, have become much better. Thus the demand for metabolic surgery has slipped a bit. Most metabolic surgeons have seen this in the volume of cases that […]

An important new paper in JAMA Pediatrics this week tells us that pediatric obesity treatment can improve a person’s health into young adulthood. Anecdotally, health professionals have seen it. Logically, many have long believed it. But this is the first time we have clear evidence for the health benefits of effective pediatric obesity treatment. In […]

“It’s hard to wake up this morning . . . and not feel like the truth doesn’t matter anymore.” These are sentiments about public discourse in a recent election, but they shine a light on a fact that guides a great deal of discourse about nutrition and obesity. Facts are always important, but feelings carry […]

A new study in Obesity caught our attention with a claim that “restricting fast food outlets in areas with a high concentration of such outlets as part of a package of policies to reduce childhood obesity may help to reduce prevalence and inequalities.” So we looked a little closer and found a different story in […]

The difference between investigative journalism and opinion writing is enormous. Both are valuable. But not interchangeable. So when Stat News publishes a lengthy opinion piece on pediatric obesity guidelines and labels it as investigative journalism, they are unfortunately dispensing spin. This is the case of a report published yesterday under a headline reading: “Pediatricians’ Obesity […]

In every way we look at this study, it is a remarkable milestone. With a randomized, controlled trial, Claudia Fox and colleagues have shown that a GLP-1, liraglutide, is effective for obesity in children as young as six years of age. In this year-long study, children who received liraglutide for obesity reduced their body mass […]