Obesity: Not just a phase kids outgrow

Addressing weight issues with children and adolescents requires a multifaceted approach from physicians that often involves the entire family.

Editorial. Dec. 22/29, 2003.

A recent AMNews article reported startling evidence that type 2 diabetes is occurring more frequently among younger patients -- a warning flare regarding the toll the obesity epidemic is taking on the nation's youth.

Such news is an urgent call for action, and one that the AMA is taking to heart.

The surgeon general has said the high incidence of overweight and obesity among young people is the greatest threat to public health today. It foreshadows a maturing generation plagued by high blood pressure, heart disease, complications of diabetes and a range of other chronic conditions associated with extra pounds. After all, data show that heavy children are more likely to grow up to be heavy adults. Think of what that means in terms of these Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics:

• The percentage of children and adolescents defined as overweight has more than doubled since the early 1970s.
• About 15% -- 9 million young people between the ages 6 and 19 -- are now overweight, having body mass index values at or above the 95th percentile of the sex-specific BMI growth charts.
• More than 10% of preschool children ages 2 to 5 are overweight, up from 7% in 1994.

That's why the AMA convened in November its Working Group on Managing Childhood Obesity -- an initiative spun off from the organization's effort to develop a clinical roadmap for addressing adult obesity, which became available Dec. 1.

The working group's specialized mission focuses attention on the unique needs of pediatric patients struggling with weight. More information on the group's actions is available on the AMA's Web site (www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/11759.html).