USPSTF Recommendations for Obesity Screening and Interventions in Children

Screen children aged 6 years and older and offer them or refer them to intensive counseling and behavioral interventions to promote improvements in weight.

The obesity epidemic in children continues. The most recent (2007–2008) Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates indicate that about 10% of children younger than 2 years had weight for length >95th percentile and 17% of children aged 2 through 19 years had body-mass index (BMI) for age >95th percentile (JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Feb 10 2010). The data also indicate no change in the prevalence of high BMI since 1999.

In 2005, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that BMI be used to identify children and adolescents with excess weight, even though evidence for effective interventions for weight management in childhood was inadequate. Concomitant with the CDC report, the USPSTF issued an updated statement on screening fo…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

USPSTF Recommendations for Obesity Screening and Interventions in Children

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Reviewing Author