Today’s blog post is brought to you by Dawn Hatanaka, Executive Director of Obesity Canada.

There has been quite a bit of media attention around the recently released Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Rightly so, this guideline has been a long time coming and is an important, well-developed, evidence-based set of recommendations. The messages are clear:

Children living with obesity should be evaluated and treated early

  • Medical nutrition therapy and physical activity are the foundation for everyone. The 3 pillars of treatment continue to be pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy and bariatric surgery
  • Canada needs to take this seriously; healthcare professionals need to be trained in obesity management and basic competencies in obesity management need to be a mandatory requirement in all medical licensing exams.
  • Managing obesity needs to become first-line treatment for all patients presenting with any obesity related comorbidity.
  • Families need access to evidence-based and long-term treatment (pediatric obesity centers were closed during covid)

Congratulations to all those involved in the AAP guidelines. We can’t wait to share the Canadian Pediatric CPG which will be released in 2023.

Photo credit: ECPO Media “On your shoulder”