Treatment

Each clinician in Ireland should use every contact with their patients to promote health and well being. Often we feel that we don’t have time or the resources to do this, however just getting started is the first step!

As bias and stigma are all too common in the area of obesity management, it is imperative that we first ask ourselves whether we could improve the way we communicate with our patients.

To get started please visit http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/bias_toolkit/index.html where you can access a free weight bias toolkit.

For children who are overweight or who have obesity without any associated co-morbidities, please use the practical Childhood Obesity Task Force recommendations to deliver evidence-based treatment 

For those children who:

1. Have a BMI above the 98th percentile for age and

2. Who present with co-morbidities or

3. Who you suspect to have an underlying cause for their obesity,

Please refer to your local paediatrician / obesity treatment team. If you cannot access an appropriate service please discuss the W82GO Service with the family and refer to a General Paediatrician who may refer them to the W82GO Team. Please feel free to print off our parent information leaflet

Please see below fact sheets regarding childhood obesity from the National Obesity Observatory (UK). In addition, please see recent obesity assessment and treatment guidelines from Australia and the UK. Every clinician encountering patients who are obese should try to follow these guidelines where possible.