Dear Colleagues:
We are pleased to announce that the draft version of APA’s “Clinical Practice Guideline for the Behavioral Treatment of Obesity and Overweight in Children and Adolescents” has been posted and is open for your comments.
The website containing the draft guideline and comment portal will remain open until October 30, 2017.
Comments will provide the panel that is developing the guideline with valuable input as it works to produce the final version. It is anticipated that the final version will be submitted to the Council of Representatives for approval as APA policy at its February 2018 meeting.
This clinical practice guideline focuses specifically on recommendations related to delivering behavioral treatment for obesity and overweight in children and adolescents. Given the strong support for this approach as a first-line intervention, the guideline evaluates what is currently known about the conditions that maximize outcomes when delivering behavioral treatment with this population. The guideline does not offer recommendations related to other possible interventions for obesity and overweight in children and adolescents (e.g., medication or surgery), although that may be an important extension in future work.
We encourage you to read the document and share any comments that you have. More information on APA’s clinical practice guideline initiative can be found here.
Best wishes,
Bethany Teachman, Ph.D.
University of Virginia
Chair, APA Advisory Steering Committee for Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines
Howard Kurtzman, Ph.D.
Acting Executive Director for Science, APA
Katherine Nordal, Ph.D.
Executive Director for Professional Practice, APA