The Ethics of Childhood Obesity Treatment – from the Childhood Obesity Task Force (COTF) of European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)

With the American Medical Association’s recent declaration that obesity is a serious disease,a critical consideration of the ethics of treating childhood obesity is especially timely. Although data suggest that the childhood obesity epidemic has stabilized in some countries, the levels remain too high; 18-49% of European children are overweight . Consequently there is an immense and urgent need for the effective treatment of this complex disease. Unfortunately, the most recent Cochrane review concludes that, although family-based interventions can reduce excess weight in children and adolescents, long-term, effective and sustainable interventions for childhood obesity have yet to be identified.