{"title":"Empowering Families and Providers With a Lifestyle Medicine Approach to Pediatric Obesity","authors":"J. Blakely Amati, Erin L. Brackbill","doi":"10.1177/15598276241238682","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Pediatric overweight and obesity is a complex chronic medical condition with a multitude of contributing factors. Rates are now nearly double what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic and if the current trajectory holds it is anticipated that by 2050 one in every two US children will experience obesity before the age of thirty-five. Pediatric obesity guidelines emphasize referral to intensive health behavior and lifestyle therapy programs, but these are difficult to access. Front line providers caring for children can use a lifestyle medicine approach within the medical home to make lifestyle changes easier. Lifestyle Medicine can promote a family-oriented, weight-neutral approach by (1) Educating and equipping providers to assess readiness to change and providing high-quality motivational interviewing and lifestyle counseling, (2) Equipping patients and their families with tools involving the six lifestyle interventions to optimize health starting an early age, and (3) Offering a longitudinal uniform office approach to effectively prevent, manage and often reverse obesity and related comorbidities through healthy habit change.","PeriodicalId":47480,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276241238682","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Pediatric overweight and obesity is a complex chronic medical condition with a multitude of contributing factors. Rates are now nearly double what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic and if the current trajectory holds it is anticipated that by 2050 one in every two US children will experience obesity before the age of thirty-five. Pediatric obesity guidelines emphasize referral to intensive health behavior and lifestyle therapy programs, but these are difficult to access. Front line providers caring for children can use a lifestyle medicine approach within the medical home to make lifestyle changes easier. Lifestyle Medicine can promote a family-oriented, weight-neutral approach by (1) Educating and equipping providers to assess readiness to change and providing high-quality motivational interviewing and lifestyle counseling, (2) Equipping patients and their families with tools involving the six lifestyle interventions to optimize health starting an early age, and (3) Offering a longitudinal uniform office approach to effectively prevent, manage and often reverse obesity and related comorbidities through healthy habit change.