A government health organization is now saying that screening for obesity can and should start in children as young as six years old.
According to U.S. Preventative Services Task Force pediatrician Dr. David Grossman, scientific evidence shows that counseling and support among young children with excess weight can help prevent health problems. This is because even among kids, diabetes and sleep apnea are possible side effects of having a high body mass index. Long-term involvement in the child’s weight loss can greatly reduce the risk of those conditions.
The task force based its decision on data from 13 intervention trials that included more than 1,200 overweight and obese children, ages 4 to 18. Overall, results showed that the moderate and high-intensity programs provided weight loss that was sustainable for up to a year after the trial.
Doctors say that by doing this screening, they can get to kids when they are still young and turn their health around before they develop life-threatening health problems later in life.
