A new tool against childhood obesity

An AMA-convened expert commission offers recommendations to doctors about how to assess, treat and prevent excess pounds for their young patients.

Editorial. July 9, 2007.

The lure of the sofa, the television, soda pop and supersized meals hasn't expanded only American adults' waistlines. Children have put on excessive weight, too.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's statistics are startling. Survey data taken in 1971 to 1974 and 2003 to 2004 show that the percentage of overweight children jumped from 5% to 13.9% for children ages 2 to 5, from 4% to 18.8% for ages 6 to 11, and from 6.1% to 17.4% for kids 12 to 19.

The trend didn't escape physicians' attention.

The American Medical Association in 2004 declared obesity in children (and adults) a major public health problem. The Association adopted policy promising to collaborate on recommendations to address the issue.

Now, that effort has borne fruit.

Last month, the AMA-convened Expert Committee on the Assessment, Prevention and Treatment of Child and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity released recommendations for physicians on how to help their young patients with weight problems. The project, which began in 2005, was co-funded in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The 22 recommendations cover assessment, treatment and prevention. The panel, consisting of representatives from 15 health professional organizations, says doctors should assess kids yearly for height, weight and body mass index and plot the results on standard growth charts.

It recommends that during well-child visits, physicians assess the dietary and physical activity patterns of all youngsters, not just those with weight problems, and discuss weight management and lifestyle with them and their caregivers. The full list of recommendations is online (www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/11759.html).