Adolescent Medicine
General Pediatrics
Mental Health
Obesity
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Eleanor Mackey, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Children's National Health System
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Session
Description: The goal of the session is to describe weight management options in populations of children and adolescents who also have pre-existing cognitive (e.g., intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder) or behavioral health (e.g., depression, ADHD, anxiety) diagnoses. Children with these pre-existing conditions are at risk of excess weight due to their medications, stress, and experience of stigma/bullying. Moreover, having a higher weight or larger body size also makes experiences of bullying, discrimination, and bias more likely, which also raises the risk of experiencing mental health issues. The intersection of experiences of larger body sizes and having cognitive or behavioral diagnoses is especially difficult for those who also experience stigma or bias based on their racial/ethnic identity. Unfortunately, experiences of stigma in populations with obesity extend to interactions with the medical community. Given that high quality weight management is essential for all youth, the current session will focus on how clinicians can provide informed and compassionate care for these children who are at highest risk of obesity.
The panel be composed of multidisciplinary experts in the field of weight management in children and adolescents with comorbid cognitive and behavioral diagnoses representing psychological, medical, and surgical approaches to weight management. The session will start with an introduction to the risk for obesity, bias, and racism in these populations and then describe compassionate and empirically-supported care from psychological, medical, and surgical perspectives. Special attention will be paid to the role of racism and ethnic bias in obesity care, including strategies for reducing said bias.
Speaker: Amy R. Beck, PhD (she/her/hers) – Children's Mercy Kansas City
Speaker: Nazrat Mirza, MD, ScD – Children's National Health System
Speaker: Brooke Sweeney, MD (she/her/hers) – Children's Mercy Kansas City
Speaker: Evan P. Nadler, MD, MBA (he/him/his) – Children's National Hospital
Speaker: Jason D. Fraser, MD (he/him/his) – Childrens Mercy Kansas City
Speaker: Eleanor R. Mackey, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Children's National Health System
Speaker: Meredith Dreyer Gillette, PhD (she/her/hers) – Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics