title: Childhood obesity: Current and novel approaches.
abstract: The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased over the last fifty years by approximately 5% per decade, and approximately a quarter of all children are now either overweight or obese. These children have a significantly increased risk of many future health problems including adult obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Despite this relentless increase, common-sense approaches aimed at prevention and treatment have failed to solve the problem. Current approaches at prevention have faced major challenges with some progress in implementing smaller scale programs and social marketing, but little action on broad public policy approaches which often appears unpalatable to society or individual governments. Meanwhile, treatment approaches have mainly focused on lifestyle change, and novel approaches are urgently needed. Prevention needs to shift to improving maternal health prior to conception, with more research focussed on the impact of early years in programming offspring to future overweight/obesity. Likewise, treatment paradigms need to move from simply thinking that obesity can be solved by readdressing diet and activity levels. Novel approaches are needed which take into consideration the complex physiology which regulates early childhood growth and the development of obesity in susceptible individuals.
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute at The Royal Children's Hospital and University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia. Electronic address: matt.sabin@rch.org.au.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sabin
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Department of Women and Child Health, University Hospitals, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Wieland
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kiess
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D050110:Bariatric Surgery; D002648:Child; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 / Q000819:agonists; D006801:Humans; D054795:Incretins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D054795:Incretins; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1
keywords: child obesity; novel; prevention; treatment