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The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first-ever guidelines for childhood obesity, which primarily focus on lifestyle changes instead of GLP-1 medications, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia, Illinois, and New York.
- District of Columbia: The Business Group on Health is partnering with BioRadar, a biological intelligence service, to help employers prepare for emerging biological threats. Through the partnership, employers will be able to access BioRadar's AI-powered biological intelligence platform, which can identify and assess threats in real time before they escalate into more prominent health concerns and disrupt business. Employers will also help shape the next generation of biological intelligence tools so workforce needs, business continuity considerations, and public health priorities are all taken into account, the organizations said. "Employers need visibility, intelligence, and proactive planning tools, rather than relying solely on public health alerts," said Ellen Kelsay, president and CEO of Business Group on Health. "At the same time, employers are uniquely poised to help mitigate biological crises, in no small part because they have direct access to large segments of the population and the ability to communicate and take action." (Landi, Fierce Healthcare, 9/21)
- Illinois: According to a new study published in JAMA Network Open, children who have their own smartphones at age 12 are more likely to develop symptoms of eating disorders compared to their peers without smartphones. For the study, researchers analyzed data from almost 9,000 adolescents who were part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Overall, the researchers found that 70% of 12-year-olds had their own smartphone, and of these children, 24% reported at least one eating disorder symptom at age 14. In comparison, less than 16% of children who did not have a smartphone at age 12 reported disordered eating two years later. Children with smartphones at age 12 were twice as likely to link their self-worth to their weight and 1.5 times more likely to have tried to control their weight. "A smartphone can put a world of appearance-focused content in a young person's pocket," exposing them to content that could encourage unhealthy eating behaviors, said Jason Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and the study's lead author. "It's important for parents to be aware that getting a smartphone isn't just about the device. It can change a child's access to different content and exposures in the digital world." Nagata recommends parents stay aware of what their children are doing online, establish ground rules about phone use, and pay attention to any changes to how their children eat or how they talk about their bodies. (Schupak, CNN, 9/25)
- New York: WHO has released its first-ever guidelines for childhood obesity, which primarily focus on lifestyle changes instead of GLP-1 medications. According to UNICEF data, obesity is now the most common form of malnutrition in schoolchildren and adolescents. Since 1990, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents ages five to 19 has quadrupled, reaching 170 million people in 2024. In the guidelines, WHO recommended diet, physical activity, and combined behavioral support for children under 10 with obesity rather than medication, surgery, or devices. For adolescents ages 10 to 19, WHO said weight-loss drugs may be considered but only after other supervised interventions have failed. Bariatric surgery may also be considered for physically and mentally mature adolescents with severe obesity if other treatments are unsuccessful after six months. "The foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery, but access to comprehensive support that enables healthy eating, physical activity, and sustainable [behavior] change," said Luz María De Regil, director of WHO's department of nutrition and food safety. (Das/Santhosh, Reuters, 10/7)
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