Abstract
Childhood obesity is an extremely present problem in children of the United States. Prevention of childhood obesity should start early. The primary care provider should start documenting BMI at the age of 2 and develop procedures and policies to deliver obesity prevention to children and their caregivers. These interventions are extremely important to implement in the primary care setting. Childhood obesity can lead to obesity in adulthood, which has a significant impact on mortality, morbidity, and the economy. An algorithm created by the American Academy of Pediatric for the assessment and management in childhood obesity was implemented in the pediatric primary care setting for 12 weeks to guide family practice providers in the treatment and prevention of obesity. Despite the success of the algorithm, barriers for treatment of pediatric obesity still exist and further studies need to continue to be completed.