CME Article

New National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Integrated Cardiovascular Guidelines: Management of Pediatric Obesity

Reginald L. Washington, MD

  • Pediatric Annals
  • July 2012 - Volume 41 · Issue 7: 1-7
  • DOI: 10.3928/00904481-20120625-07
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Abstract

CME Educational Objectives

  1. Recognize the terminology used in the NHLBI guidelines to define weight-for-height disproportion in children and adolescents.

  2. Understand the strengths and limitations of the evidence on which the obesity recommendations in the guidelines are based.

  3. Identify age-specific approaches to established obesity in childhood and adolescence.

 

Despite efforts during the past decade to prevent and control overweight and obesity, 2007–2008 reports from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey show sustained high prevalence, with 16.9% of children and adolescents with a body mass index above the 95th percentile for age and gender. There are persistent differences in obesity prevalence by region, racial/ethnic group and socio-economic status exemplified in a recent report from the Bogalusa Heart Study, which began in the 1970s. Screening of 5- to 17-year-old school children revealed that the prevalence of obesity has increased more than fivefold, from 5.6% in 1973–1974 to 30.8% in 2008–2009.

AUTHORS

Reginald L. Washington, MD, is Chief Medical Officer, Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Denver, CO; and Clinical Professor of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO.

Disclosure: Dr. Washington has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Address correspondence to: Reginald L. Washington, MD, 1719 E. 19th Avenue, Denver, CO 80218; fax: 303-869-2428; email:  Reginald.Washington@HealthONECares.com

doi: 10.3928/00904481-20120625-07

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