Lifestyle Counseling and Medication for Adolescent Weight Management

Study Summary

The prevalence of adolescent severe obesity is at an all-time high in the United States and the refractory nature of this disease has led to a serious and challenging conundrum in terms of how to provide effective, safe, scalable, and durable treatments without placing undue strain on the healthcare system. Clinical practice guidelines recommend behavioral interventions as the primary strategy for all ages and classes of obesity - moderate to severe. In 2017, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released updated screening recommendations concluding that comprehensive, intensive behavioral interventions with a total of ≥26 contact hours over a period of 2-12 months resulted in weight loss in youth with obesity, with ≥52 contact hours leading to even greater weight loss and improvements in some cardiometabolic risk factors. However, the practicality of delivering these types of intensive behavioral services to the millions of youth with severe obesity in the U.S. is debatable not only because of the treatment-resistant nature of severe obesity, but also due to the time-commitment, acceptability, and sustainability of this approach for adolescent patients and their families along with the extensive resources required to provide these interventions. Indeed, fewer than 50% of pediatric patients referred for weight management services enroll in treatment, and high attrition rates of up to 50% have been reported in behavioral-based clinical trials and in the clinical setting. Moreover, adherence to behavioral counseling significantly diminishes over time, which too often erodes early weight loss success and ultimately derails durability. The reality of what most patients/families are able to do and the unique physiological and psychosocial features of severe obesity in adolescence do not seem to align well with the degree of intensity of behavioral interventions shown to be effective by the USPSTF. Therefore, a critical appraisal of the feasibility, effectiven

Primary Outcome

The percent change in body mass index (BMI) from Baseline to Week 56 will be calculated. BMI is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters.

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Intensive Behavioral Program
• DRUG Semaglutide and Behavioral Program

Study Locations (1)