With obesity still rising among certain groups of kids, a government panel is renewing its advice that all children and adolescents ages 6 to 18 be screened for obesity.
Screening is just the first step. Kids who are obese should then be referred to treatment programs that use a variety of approaches to change their behavior and help them slim down.
The recommendations were issued Tuesday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a group of experts appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The task force's advice influences health care providers and the coverage offered by health insurers.
The new recommendations, which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, earned a "B" grade from the task force. That means the experts determined with "moderate certainty" that the overall benefit of obesity screening and treatment referral is "moderate."
Here are more details about the new recommendations.
