Mississippi has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the nation with more than 23% of kids aged 10-17 identified as overweight. National guidance has remained the same for years, telling parents to wait and see if a child could age out of obesity challenges. But changes released this week by the American Academy of Pediatrics highlight early interventions are key to treating obesity as a disease. Dr. John Gaudet, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at William Carey University, says there are many factors that contribute to obesity in children.
“I think physicians are not well trained on how to approach children who suffer from [being] overweight. And it’s there to help guide them and help give them the knowledge they need in order to help their patients.”
Dr. Gaudet says fighting obesity isn’t as simple as asking someone to eat right or exercise, as there may be a number of factors that cause someone to overeat or not burn off excess energy.
Dr. Geri Weiland, a pediatrician in Vicksburg, says she has treated her overweight patients with this higher standard of care for years. She says these new national recommendations may help more parents, providers and insurance companies better understand the root causes and various treatments for obesity.
“Providing healthy choices, education for healthy choices, including what you eat and what you do is going to pay off a whole lot more than trying to use medicines than when someone has become overweight,” says Dr. Weiland. “Once you become overweight, you don’t feel like doing anything and you may sit there and eat more than you should . It’s just a vicious cycle.”
Medications are available to help treat obesity, but doctors say much of that medication is restricted by insurance providers to those who have already developed type-two diabetes.
