Will Canada follow the U.S.’s aggressive new approach to treat childhood obesity? – CBC

New U.S. guidelines include recommendations for weight loss drugs and surgery for some teens

Feb 14, 2023

It’s been three years since Christophe Legault, now 12, was diagnosed with obesity and started treatment.

He had been having trouble at school — his grades were dropping, he was being bullied and he was struggling to participate in sports such as basketball, his favourite.

The program he’s been following at Maison de Santé Prévention, a semi-private, subsidized clinic in Montreal, involves intensive lifestyle and nutrition counselling, including finding out what kinds of food and exercise work for him and his family, who pay for the treatment.

With help from doctors, nurses, nutritionists and other experts, the family made changes around the kinds of foods they eat, and Christophe started walking to school instead of taking the bus.

“It makes me proud that I made a lot of progress,” Legault said. “If I didn’t have that treatment, it would have been really hard.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/us-canada-obesity-guidelines-1.6746380