title: Pharmacotherapy for childhood obesity: present and future prospects.
abstract: Pediatric obesity is a serious medical condition associated with significant comorbidities during childhood and adulthood. Lifestyle modifications are essential for treating children with obesity, yet many have insufficient response to improve health with behavioral approaches alone. This review summarizes the relatively sparse data on pharmacotherapy for pediatric obesity and presents information on obesity medications in development. Most previously studied medications demonstrated, at best, modest effects on body weight and obesity-related conditions. It is to be hoped that the future will bring new drugs targeting specific obesity phenotypes that will allow clinicians to use etiology-specific, and therefore more effective, anti-obesity therapies.
authors.affiliation: Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1103, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sherafat-Kazemzadeh
authors.forename: S Z
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Yanovski
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Yanovski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001067:Appetite Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000187:drug effects; D008066:Lipolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D056687:Off-Label Use; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D001067:Appetite Depressants; D007328:Insulin