Exercise Journal Club: Pediatric Obesity 2017

In clinical practice, calculating total weekly structured activity minutes from PE class, recess, and extracurriculars reveals that some kids have as little as 100 minutes per week while others have as much as 500 minutes per week

Activity planning is very individual and requires constantly evaluating what works for each family at a particular time

In the Choosing Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids program, schools can control kids during the school year and most kids eat breakfast and lunch at school, but there is not great control during summer

In Maine, physical activity is the behavior that isn't changing as much as desired over the last 10 years of tracking

There is a significant correlation between obesity and ADHD, with decreased dopamine activity proposed as a common underlying pathway contributing to both conditions

Stimulants act to increase dopamine activity, and taking a break from stimulant medication puts patients in a position where they are seeking more input, which might be from food or other environmental stimuli

For weight management, the recommendation is to take stimulant medication every day with no breaks, including weekends and summer, because it helps with functioning in every realm of life

Beta blockers and antihistamines are medications known to aggravate obesity

Some children on ADHD medications struggle to maintain weight and may need medication breaks, particularly when side effects include blood pressure issues or personality changes

For children with obesity whose main ADHD manifestation is impulsivity, which can affect eating habits, staying on medication regularly is more likely to be recommended