Approach to the Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity

Pediatric obesity continues to be an omnipresent disease; 1 in 5 children and adolescents have obesity in the United States. The comorbidities associated with youth-onset obesity tend to have a more severe disease progression in youth compared to their adult counterparts with the same obesity-related condition. A comorbidity of focus in this study is metabolism-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which has rapidly evolved into the most common liver disease seen in the pediatric population. A direct association exists between the treatment of MASLD and the treatment of pediatric obesity. The current evidence supports that obesity treatment is safe and effective.