(WXYZ) — Childhood obesity has been growing at alarming rates. According to a 2021 CDC report, nearly 20% of kids between the ages of 2-19 are obese, and roughly 6% are severely obese.
In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics is issuing updated guidelines on treating childhood obesity
It's a wide-ranging update, but one aspect is stirring up controversy – medication and permanent weight loss surgery for children as young as middle school.
Oakland county native Maeve Everett's weight loss journey has made her a Tik Tok star.
"I posted one video on Tik Tok less than a year ago today, and it kind of blew up overnight," Everett said.
racking up 25 million likes.
"What got you started on this journey?" I asked.
"I think just the motivation to be healthy and actually feel better about myself," she said.
Maeve says weight has been a struggle for as long as she can remember. It was during the COVID-19 lockdown that she focused on eating better and moving more.
"The main thing to your health is what you put in your body is food. As much as you work out, you can't over-exercise a bad diet," she said.
According to the CDC, nearly 15 million American children are obese. In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics put out new guidelines for the first time in more than a decade.
Dr. Zeena Al-Rufaie is a pediatrician with Shelby Pediatrics in Shelby Township and an expert in obesity medicine. She says the guidelines focus mostly on lifestyle management but when that fails suggests the use of medicine and pediatric weight loss surgery for kids as young as middle school.
She said commonly they have type two diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.
"We want to try to make a bigger effort at working with families earlier and trying to prevent these things from happening," Al-Rufaie said.
But the use of medicine or permanent surgery in children is drawing sharp reactions. Some say the guidelines are, "barking up the wrong tree." Others say, "These recommendations set me on fire.... I am worried the new focus will lead to eating disorders."
Dr. Jaime Taylor is the director of adolescent medicine at Beaumont Children's. She says she has seen unhealthy "ideal weight" patients and healthy patients with larger bodies. She's concerned about making permanent changes to still-developing children.
"Especially those as young as 12 and 13 years old, many of them have not completed the pubertal process," Taylor said.
She says weight loss surgery can change how children get the nutrients they need to grow, and using medicine for weight loss is a long-term commitment. There are sticky ethical issues to be sorted by the patient, provider and guardian according to clinical ethicist Abraham Brummett.
"Ultimately, it's the parents that are they're going to have the legal authority to, you know, give permission for these kinds of invasive procedures," Brummett said.
All of the healthcare experts in this story largely believe using medicine or surgery for weight loss is only to counterbalance the long-term negative complications of obesity.
They say lifestyle choices like those made by Maeve are always the first step to weight management.
