New Canadian Pediatric Obesity Guidelines Meet Scarce Options

The first update to Canadian guidelines for pediatric obesity in two decades is out today. The authors grounded them in the best available science. They crafted them with the values of children and families at the center of their process. In short, these are very solid guidelines.

But there’s just one little problem. The scarce resources for delivering the care Canadian children and families need for obesity falls far short. Obesity Canada’s scientific director, Sanjeev Sockalingam, explained how scarce the options are for families seeking care:

“With only two surgical centres, a patchwork of multidisciplinary obesity management clinics, and widespread lack of equitable and affordable access to treatments in Canada, we know families currently have very few practical options.”

Stigma Front and Center

“Obesity is a complex, chronic, and stigmatized disease.” The guidelines, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, say this right up front. Delaying care for young persons with obesity serves only to heighten the risk for complications and prolong the harsh experience of living with a stigmatized condition, says Lisa Schaffer. She is Executive Director of Obesity Canada, someone who has a lifetime of experience living with this disease.

So the strength of these new Canadian pediatric obesity guidelines is that they confront stigma first and foremost. Thus, they shift the focus away from pass/fail standard for body weight and toward a focus on improving health, emotional well-being, and day-to-day quality of life. The guidelines respect families and youth as decision makers and they recognize that no two patients are alike.

Lagging Health Systems

The potential for science-based obesity treatment options for youth has grown dramatically in the decades since the last Canadian guidance was written. Now, health systems just have to catch up.

Click here to read the new guidelines, here and here for more from Obesity Canada about them.

Lonely Tree at Fairy Lake. Vancouver island, BC, Canada, photograph by Sergey Pesterev, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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April 14, 2025