- Doctors highlighted shared challenges on common children’s diseases, including obesity, asthma, and diabetes
In an effort to contribute to knowledge and innovation in the field of pediatric medicine, experts from Children’s National Medical Center and its Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, both located on the Sheikh Zayed Campus for Advanced Children’s Medicine in Washington, DC, covered key issues related to children’s health in the region at the second annual World Health Care Congress Middle East (WHCC) taking place in Abu Dhabi this week.
During the Congress, a panel of experts from Children’s National held a discussion on innovations in pediatric chronic diseases. They highlighted challenges – shared by the UAE and the USA – on common children’s diseases, including obesity, asthma, and diabetes.
Dr. Evan Nadler, Co-Director of the Obesity Institute at Children’s National and a principal investigator in the Sheikh Zayed Institute, covered current trends in adult and childhood obesity in the U.S. and Middle East. Approximately 35% of high school-aged children in Washington, D.C. are overweight or obese1 while recent data suggests that the prevalence of children with obesity in the UAE is at least 14%2. Dr. Nadler mentioned how diet and behavior modification can help a minority of adolescents who are obese, of which the vast majority go on to become obese adults3. He provided a rationale and prerequisites for surgical intervention, evaluated the options for surgical procedures available to children today, and shared the progress Children’s National has made in establishing better clinical interventions for children with obesity.
Dr. Stephen Teach, Chief of the Allergy and Immunology Division at Children’s National, illustrated some of the challenges faced in treating and managing asthma in children – which is a growing concern in the UAE – including taking into account environmental, individual, social, and medical factors for each child. He highlighted that asthma morbidity is high both in major cities in the US and the UAE, however, outcomes in the US have not significantly improved over the last decade. Nonetheless, effective evidence-based guidelines do not exist. He also offered insight into potential new interventions and promising clinical models to help families more effectively manage pediatric asthma, such as immunomodulation, in which medications are use to alter the body’s response to common asthma triggers and may mitigate the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the UAE prevalence of diabetes as 19.5%, the second highest in the world. Additionally, the combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease in the UAE, the United States, and the world over. Dr. Fran Cogen, Director, Childhood and Adolescent Diabetes Program at Children’s National, outlined the trends in medications and device technology that control diabetes symptoms in children, including: Insulin pump therapies, Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems, Artificial Pancreas (a marriage of the insulin pump and the continuous glucose sensor) and the application of smart phone technology (such as Calorie King, Carbohydrate Counting with Lenny, BMI tool, Pocket A1c and communication between the caregiver and child via text messages, etc.).
“Washington, DC, has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity anywhere, and so does the United Arab Emirates. We also share challenges in asthma and diabetes,” said Dr. Peter Kim, Vice President of the Sheikh Zayed Institute at Children’s National, who moderated the session. “Much can be learned at venues like this conference, where we gather expertise across disciplines to find innovative applications that can be replicated across the world, thus building a network of sustainable health initiatives that address the pediatric health challenges in the Gulf region and around the world.
Another member of the Children’s delegation, Dr. Denice Cora-Bramble, MD, MBA, Acting Executive Vice President for Ambulatory Services and Senior Vice President of the Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health at Children’s National Medical Center said: “Promoting and encouraging healthier lifestyles for adults and children is a challenge that crosses the physical boundaries of individual countries and the invisible boundaries of culture and community. Virtually every country is struggling to find ways to reduce the number of people suffering from diseases like asthma, obesity, and diabetes.” Dr. Cora-Bramble will participate in a keynote panel discussion on this topic on Tuesday, December 13, the final day of the World Health Care Congress Middle East.
