Treatment Interventions for Child and Adolescent Obesity

In this issue of JAMA, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) releases updated recommendations for interventions for high body mass index (BMI) in children and adolescents. Child and adolescent obesity continues to be one of the most significant health challenges in the US and globally. In 2017-2020, 19.7% of US children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years had obesity (BMI ≥95th percentile for age and sex), and the rate of BMI increase nearly doubled during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Obesity is associated with significant social, psychological, and medical burdens among children, as well as increased risks of adult obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, many cancers, many other chronic illnesses, and early mortality. Youth from low socioeconomic status families and Black, Hispanic, or Indigenous youth have higher rates of obesity and its related comorbidities.