Fighting Childhood Obesity

Dr. Erich Schramm joins Kevin Geddings to discuss a new study which aims to lower the incidence of childhood obesity. Somewhere around 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese, and this condition greatly increases the risks of serious health consequences later in life, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, and metabolic disorders. Dr. Schramm talks about what is being done today in the world of clinical research that may help children struggling with obesity today and for their whole lives.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Study Preview
• 1:06 The Scope Of Childhood Obesity
• 2:58 How Doctors Define Pediatric Obesity
• 4:10 Medications And The New Dual Therapy
• 5:21 Trial Design And Long-Term Outlook
• 6:05 Enrollment, Ethics, And Participant Benefits
• 7:38 How To Learn More And Next Steps]

Transcript

Announcer: 0:31

Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio Show, hosted by Kevin Gettings of WSOS Radio and powered by ENCORE Research Group. Each Monday morning, Dr. Michael Koren calls us to bring you the latest medical updates with insightful discussions. MedEvidence is where we help you navigate the real truth behind medical research from both a clinical and research perspective. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn about the truth behind the data in medicine and healthcare. This is MedEvidence!

Kevin Geddings: 0:31

Dr. Eric Schramm joining me live on the studio line right now with a really exciting study dealing with young people, young children, kids that have obesity issues, who are increasingly overweight. Good morning, Dr. Schramm. How are you?

Dr. Erich Schramm: 0:45

Doing great, Kevin. Thanks for asking. And it's great to be back on the back on the radio with you.

Kevin Geddings: 0:51

No, it is. It's great to have you. And I know Dr. Schramm for years. He was my personal physician, and now he's very involved in clinical research here in our part of Northeast Florida. He's been doing this for a number of years. And specifically, you have a study dealing with kids, right?

Dr. Erich Schramm: 1:06

Yeah. So just a little kind of background on that. You know, we're we're here we are, we're uh first of the year, and a lot of people have got their New Year's resolutions for, you know, healthy uh lifestyle and diet and weight loss. So, you know, a lot of people are talking about obesity. But you know, I think it's important to really understand childhood obesity. Just to, you know, as a background, we know that at least 20% of our pediatric population is obese. So that means one in five kids is obese. And if you factor in the number of kids that are overweight, then you're talking about one in three kids out there. So it's it's it's very prevalent. And we know that, of course, child uh kids that have obesity in their childhood are at much higher risk for becoming obese adults. So if a child has one obese parent, then they're three times more likely to be obese as an adult. But it's really interesting if they have two obese parents, then it's 10 to 15 times more an increase than non-obese. So it's really, it's quite uh significant, you know, so it's not just a child, but oftentimes, you know, it it's it's a family health issue. So there's really an imperative, and we know that, you know, adult, you know, uh childhood obesity, you know, it increases the risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, you know, a lot of metabolic disorders, cholesterol issues, not to mention, you know, uh there's a lot of, you know, from a mental and emotional health issue that this can be really a challenging time for for young kids. And so there's, you know, there's a there's a really big, you know, cost involved in terms of obesity in children. And just so you'll know that, you know, historically, how do we know, how do we gauge obesity in our children? We like to go back to those old, uh, remember the growth charts? You'd go in the pediatrician office and they look to see where am I on the graph, you know, where am I on the chart, you know. So, you know, if you know, if a child's BMI, because kids are, you know, they're growing, right? So, you know, not like adults, we're we we're you know, we've reached our full maturation, we're not gonna grow anymore, but for kids they're growing, so they have to look at those growth charts. So if a child is 95, uh 95th percentile over their BMI, then they're considered obese. And if they're greater than 120% on the growth chart, then they're considered to be severely obese. So, and if they're 70, 85 or higher, then they're 85 to 95 is class is considered to be just overweight. So there's there's a degree of obesity in the pediatric population. Yeah. And so this is so we're looking for the more the the the obese population, 95% or higher. So so this is is is interesting. Now there are, you know, many now you know medications out there for adult obesity, and most people are familiar with semaglutide, which is Wegovy. You know, it's an injectable and has had tremendous impact on, you know, adult obesity. You know, we've seen patients losing 15% or more of their of their body weight. So it's been very effective. And but you know, there's not so much known in the in the pediatric population. They do have recently had gotten approval for semaglutide or Wegovy in the pediatric population, 12 years and older. So there is some uh medication out there. What's what's unique about this particular study medicine is actually a combination of two kinds of mechanisms, two hormones involved in used for weight loss. And again, in the adult population have been found very effective. So the the notion if you put two kind of like-minded or similar acting weight loss medications, you know, into a single medicine compared to just semaglutide alone, that the those patients, those kids are gonna see a greater weight loss. And that's really exactly the kind of study we're gonna be doing. And we've got a nice, uh, it's gonna go on for over a year, and then they'll do an open label, which will go on for several years. So the open label is the indication you're there no everybody knows what they're gonna get. And you know, when you look at over the over several years, you get a really good idea to see just exactly uh what these medications are doing and and hopefully to prove you know durable long term for those patients.

Kevin Geddings: 5:55

Right. That's Dr. Erich Schramm when we're talking. If you just jumped in in the middle of all that, that a study involving pediatric obesity or young people, children who are obese. Dr. Schramm, of course, I guess people have a certain limited time to potentially enroll their child in this, right?

Dr. Erich Schramm: 6:12

Right. But you know, as and I'm a longtime clinical investigator, so the last thing that we want to feel compelling need is to rush patients to, you know, when they're making decisions about clinical research. You know, we like to sit down to be sh make uh may be clear with them to understand, you know, what what's involved in it and the pros and cons. At the end of the day, you know, we always feel that, you know, offering clinical research is is is seems to always be a net benefit for patients. The time they spend in the clinic with our staff, with the physician. So even if there's you know a placebo involved in these trials, they still are getting benefits out of it. So this is why so many of our patients come back to do multiple studies over, you know, uh they just go continue one study after another. So I think there's a great benefit for patients to consider, you know, clinical research. And and if if not for your kids, then for yourself. We have a lot of opportunities. We do a lot of uh metabolic health and and research in that. So there's I there's a lot to to to potentially benefit from being in clinical research studies. And I invite those curious people to reach out, and you know, we are always happy to answer any questions. Dr. Erich Shramm, thank you for all your time this morning. We appreciate you, and we'll speak soon, okay? I hope so, Kevin. Thank you, and have a great day.

Announcer: 7:38

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