Pediatric obesity - An overview of etiology and treatment

Obesity is one of the most common and difficult to-treat problems encountered by pediatricians. The past few years have witnessed the start of a paradigm shift in the diagnosis and treatment of obesity. Although it has been believed traditionally that overeating and sedentary Lifestyle can cause obesity, these assertions remain largely unproved and controversial. in contrast, genetic and biochemical studies are rapidly unraveling novel endocrine and homeostatic pathways influencing body weight regulation, which suggest that obesity may result from a more thrifty use of calories. Thus, the novel endocrine hormones, receptors, an. other proteins involved in relating body weight may provide new tools for diagnosis and therapy of adult and pediatric obesity.