The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has drafted recommendations for behavioral treatment for children and adolescents with high body mass index.
The drafted recommendations would provide or refer children 6 or older with high BMI to comprehensive, intensive behavioral interventions with at least 26 contact hours with a healthcare professional in a year, according to a statement from the panel. Behavioral interventions would include education on healthy eating habits, counseling on behavioral change techniques and supervised exercise sessions.
The draft recommendations focus on two types of interventions: behavioral counseling and pharmacotherapy. Surgical weight loss interventions, meanwhile, were considered by the task force to be outside the scope of primary care.
The task force is accepting public comments through Jan. 16. The recommendations were last updated in 2017.