Diagnosing and Treating Children with Obesity

Over the last decade, we’ve watched childhood obesity emerge as a major health concern, taking over news stories and social media posts worldwide. The evaluation and treatment of children with obesity has evolved, and how we handle these diagnoses today is different than in years past. What’s important to emphasize is that obesity is a chronic disease, and the medical community needs to treat it as such.

To learn more about this important topic and highlight an impressive woman in medicine, we are joined by Ihuoma Eneli, MD. She is the Section Head of Nutrition at Children’s Hospital Colorado and a visiting professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She is an internationally recognized expert on pediatric obesity and serves in leadership and advisory roles for many organizations.

In this episode, our expert discusses:

• A discussion of the new AAP obesity guidelines
• Genetics and how clinicians can reframe their understanding of obesity
• Suggestions for motivational interviewing with patients and families
• Treatment options that are available to patient-families
• The stigma around fault versus genetics
• New drugs and their future impact