Experts: Helping severely obese children lose weight is difficult.

USA Today (11/30, Hellmich) reports, "Helping a child lose 100 pounds or more is a brutal, uphill battle even with intense diet and behavior treatment," according to US childhood obesity experts. "With severely overweight children, there are often emotional factors that need to be addressed, including depression, possible abuse, and family upheaval, experts say." Nevertheless, "parents have a responsibility to try to help their overweight children reach a healthy weight, and the kids are more likely to be successful if they are involved in an intense, family-based program that includes guidance from a doctor, registered dietitian, psychologist and exercise physiologist," explained Melinda Sothern, a professor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans who has treated obese children for the past two decades.