The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released new guidelines for the treatment of childhood and adolescent ob*sity. They are incredibly aggressive and are 180 degrees from where we should be headed on this topic.
The AAP does acknowledge that ob*sity is complicated and multifactorial, and that the studies they looked at to develop these guidelines don't actually meet the standards of quality they set. But they pressed on, regardless. Further, they made the jump that an increase in BMI is bad for health (not clear), and therefore, a decrease in BMI is good for health (even less clear). What we end up with is the AAP pathologizing larger bodies. Being fat is not actually a disease, but we are teaching kids that their bodies are wrong. None of this is helpful for the kid getting bullied or teased at school for being fat. Now they get to hear it from their doctor, too. The recommendations the AAP has put out are as follows:
None of this has been shown to be safe or effective. In fact, the authors admit that weight cycling can be expected. Basically for these kids' whole lives, they should be trying to lose weight and will gain and lose over and over. They are trying to normalize something we know to be harmful to physical and mental health. What can parents do? 1. Opt out - refuse to participate in any of these "treatments" 2. Ask lots of questions about safety, effectiveness, and risks involved in proposed treatments 3. Model normal, healthy eating at home 4. Foster Intuitive Eating in your kids 5. Offer balanced meals and snacks and let your kids decide if and how much to eat 6. Get professional help from a weight-inclusive provider, if needed
2 Comments
Renee Merritt
2/11/2023 09:49:53 am
Glad to hear someone in the profession is concerned about this subject!! Like all the set standards by the AAP or medical field, I'm not impressed with what they say! This is disturbing to hear about perfectly healthy children being singled out by the standard guidelines for a certain weight & waistline. I hate to think of the emotional damage that will be done to a young mind!! Let kids be kids and keep them active!!
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Heather Fiore
2/11/2023 03:19:32 pm
I completely agree, Renee - the emotional damage that will be done to so many is scary to think about! Thank you for sharing your opinion!
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