Lifestyle Medicine Approach to Pediatric Subspecialty Care

Early childhood and adolescence is a critical period for health across the life course. The origins of cardiometabolic disease begin during this period and it is a key formative period in establishing the lifestyle behaviors that carry into adulthood. This session will take an evidence-based approach in reviewing the importance of the pillars of lifestyle medicine, specifically from the perspective of a pediatric cardiologist and a pediatric endocrinologist. Through this session, we will empower all attendees to better understand the ‘why’ underlying their delivery of lifestyle medicine to pediatric patients. We will first review the data on cardiometabolic risk among youth and then deconstruct the pathophysiology underlying insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia. We will apply this knowledge as we walk through each of the lifestyle medicine pillars in relation to cardiometabolic health, followed by a case-based presentation to apply the pillars to improve health and the ability to integrate lifestyle medicine into pediatric cardiometabolic disease care. In this session, we will emphasize and illustrate the necessity of a holistic approach to cardiometabolic disease prevention through lifestyle medicine through a series of case presentations. The case presentations will provide practical strategies for conducting these discussions with families.