Problems in childhood obesity.

Clearly, obesity prevention should be at the forefront of our approach to this epidemic problem and the goal of health care providers, public health officials, community, and families. The problems of the obese child are no longer solely those of increased risk for disease, but of disease itself. Health care providers are increasingly challenged to provide evaluation and treatment for the serious comorbidities and complications of obesity in childhood. Many of these comorbidities and complications are "invisible" and require careful and focused history and laboratory evaluation to elicit. Treatment of the complication and comorbidity should be focused on preventing progression, reversing the disease process, and, ultimately, achieving control of obesity with family-based lifestyle changes that will allow the child to maintain a healthy balance between his or her genetic predisposition and the environment.