Caring for US Children: Barriers to Effective Treatment in Children with the Disease of Obesity

In 2020, impediments to pediatric obesity (PO) treatment remain pervasive, even though these barriers are clearly documented in medical literature. Providers must invest considerable resources to overcome these barriers to care. Notable barriers include gaps in medical education, misperceptions of the disease, weight bias and stigma, exclusion of coverage in health plans, and thus an unsustainable financial framework. Hence, this review offers an updated social-ecological framework of accessibility to care, wherein each barrier to care or variable is interdependent on the other and each is critical to creating forward momentum.

Full citation: Srivastava G, Browne N, Kyle TK, et al. Caring for US Children: Barriers to Effective Treatment in Children with the Disease of Obesity. Obesity. 2020;29(1):46-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22987