Treating obesity in children and adolescents: a review

Researchers and health practitioners are becoming increasingly concerned with the problems associated with obesity among children and adolescents. Obesity tends to persist into adulthood and to be associated with a variety of physical and psychological problems. Treatment approaches used to date are generally impotent, but some promising short-term results have been achieved with some forms of dietary counseling, exercise programs, total environmental management, and behavior therapy. But even with these strategies, clinically significant weight loss is rare and advances during treatment are rarely maintained. Radical departures from current treatment strategies are needed in the form of more structured and intensive treatments, family involvement, and training in problem solving. Closer adherence to sound scientific methodology might at least provide a foundation from which more effective treatments might be developed.