Obesity among children and adolescents

Abstract

The ongoing childhood obesity pandemic is a comprehensive health challenge in the 21st century with major implications for mental and physical health and disease with an increased morbidity and mortality resulting in a shortening of expected life span. Obesity should be understood as a chronic disease regulated by a complex neuroendocrine system aiming at fat mass preservation. Multidisciplinary chronic care treatment based on current guidelines, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and best-practice standards across health sectors are recommended to alleviate and counteract childhood obesity.