美国心脏病协会9月9日公布的数据显示，目前已有5%的美国儿童成为“重度肥胖”儿童。研究人员警告说，“重度肥胖”是比肥胖严重得多的一种儿童疾病。
研究人员当天在《循环》杂志上写道，尽管最新数据表明，美国儿童肥胖率开始趋于稳定，但儿童“重度肥胖”问题却呈现出令人担忧的趋势。
论文第一作者、明尼苏达大学的阿伦·凯利博士说，“重度肥胖”具有严重的健康后果，例如容易导致儿童在很小的年龄就出现Ⅱ型糖尿病与心血管问题，如高血压、高血脂以及动脉硬化的早期迹象等。
对于儿童“重度肥胖”，目前存在多种定义。在这项研究中，年龄大于2岁的儿童身高体重指数（BMI，身高除以体重的平方）数值大于35，或者在按性别年龄划分得出的BMI百分位数曲线图中，比95百分位的BMI数值还要高出20%，即被定义为“重度肥胖”。比如，平均身高的7岁女孩，但体重却达34千克，或13岁男孩，体重已达73千克，均被认定为“重度肥胖”。
目前针对“重度肥胖”儿童的治疗手段非常有限。对普通肥胖儿童有效的多数疗法对“重度肥胖”儿童基本不起作用。
多数专家建议，应先引导“重度肥胖”儿童逐渐养成健康的生活方式，然后才考虑药物治疗，最后必要时再进行手术，但对此应进行更多研究。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
Circulation doi: 10.1161/CIR.0b013e3182a5cfb3
Severe Obesity in Children and Adolescents： Identification， Associated Health Risks， and Treatment Approaches
Aaron S. Kelly； Sarah E. Barlow，； Goutham Rao， ； Thomas H. Inge
Severe obesity afflicts between 4% and 6% of all youth in the United States， and the prevalence is increasing. Despite the serious immediate and long-term cardiovascular， metabolic， and other health consequences of severe pediatric obesity， current treatments are limited in effectiveness and lack widespread availability. Lifestyle modification/behavior-based treatment interventions in youth with severe obesity have demonstrated modest improvement in body mass index status， but participants have generally remained severely obese and often regained weight after the conclusion of the treatment programs. The role of medical management is minimal， because only 1 medication is currently approved for the treatment of obesity in adolescents. Bariatric surgery has generally been effective in reducing body mass index and improving cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors； however， reports of long-term outcomes are few， many youth with severe obesity do not qualify for surgery， and access is limited by lack of insurance coverage. To begin to address these challenges， the purposes of this scientific statement are to (1) provide justification for and recommend a standardized definition of severe obesity in children and adolescents； (2) raise awareness of this serious and growing problem by summarizing the current literature in this area in terms of the epidemiology and trends， associated health risks (immediate and long-term)， and challenges and shortcomings of currently available treatment options； and (3) highlight areas in need of future research. Innovative behavior-based treatment， minimally invasive procedures， and medications currently under development all need to be evaluated for their efficacy and safety in this group of patients with high medical and psychosocial risks.
