Evaluation and Treatment of Pediatric Obesity

Abstract

Obesity is one of the most significant health problems facing children and adolescents. The definition of overweight in children is a body mass index between the 85th and less than 95th percentile, whereas obesity is greater than or equal to the 95th percentile for age and sex. There are multiple comorbidities associated with obesity, including dyslipidemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, as well as psychosocial issues.  This review contains 3 figures, 4 tables and 63 references. Key Words bariatric surgery, metabolic syndrome, obesity treatment, pediatric obesity, weight loss surgery