Editor’s Note - June 2014

It’s hard to overstate how important good nutrition is to the growth and development of children and to their health now and later in life. As a pediatric health care provider, you’re acutely aware of the time and effort spent educating young patients and their families about diet and nutrition.

As we cover in this news section, most young school-aged children with weight problems aren’t able to reach and maintain a healthy weight as they approach adolescence and grow into adulthood.

And CDC statistics are sobering: Childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Today, almost 18% of kids between 6 and 11 years of age and more than 20% between 12 and 19 are obese. What’s more, most don’t eat the recommended 2½ to 6½ cups of fruits and vegetables or 2 to 3 ounces of whole grains each day. Instead, empty calories from sugars and fats represent as much as 40% of their daily calories.

There is good news, though. The CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data reveal that obesity has decreased among kids aged 2 to 5 years—and that drop is substantial, from about 14% in 2004 to 8.4% in 2012.

So whether you’re answering parents’ questions about choosing the best formula for their infant from among the many available varieties (including the newer low-protein formulations covered here in this news section), or encouraging teenagers to make wise choices about their intake of highly caloric soda, desserts, and caramel mochaccinos, take heart in knowing that your care is making a difference.

To feed your own need for medical information to help you counsel patients about healthy eating, visit the Consultant for Pediatricians Nutrition Medical Resource Center at PediatricsConsultant360.com. In addition to clinical articles about pediatric diet and obesity from the Consultant for Pediatricians archives, there you’ll find news about the latest childhood nutrition research, clinical guidelines and recommendations, videos, links to pediatric BMI calculators, and even infant formula rebate coupons to share with parents.

I welcome your input. Offer your thoughts or opinion in a comment posted at PediatricsConsultant360.com. To contribute a clinical photo, case report, or review article, send me a note at Editor@PediatricsConsultant360.com, or call me toll-free at (800) 237-7285, extension 396.

Michael Gerchufsky, ELS, CMPP

Managing Editor