Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences
University of Alberta
Pediatric obesity is a complex, chronic condition requiring comprehensive, evidence-based approaches that extend beyond weight-centric paradigms. This presentation will provide an overview of current best practices in nutritional care for children and adolescents living with obesity, with particular emphasis on the evolving role of pharmacotherapy and its implications for nutrition assessment and intervention. As obesity medications (e.g., glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists such as semaglutide and tirzepatide) become increasingly integrated into clinical care, nutrition professionals must consider their potential effects on gastrointestinal intolerance and rapid or excessive weight loss, which can affect growth, pubertal development, body composition, and lead to nutrient deficiencies, especially in protein, vitamins, and minerals. Not all weight loss is healthy. In parallel, this session will highlight the importance of state-of-the-art body composition assessment techniques to inform both prevention and management strategies. Traditional anthropometric indices, such as BMI, may inadequately capture changes in fat distribution and lean mass during growth or in response to treatment. Advanced body composition techniques offer greater precision, thereby supporting more individualized and physiologically informed care. Finally, this presentation will discuss key knowledge and implementation gaps in pediatric obesity management, including the need to better understand how emerging pharmacotherapies interact with nutritional status, musculoskeletal development, and long-term metabolic health. Identifying these gaps is essential to guide future research and optimize interdisciplinary models of care.
Dr. Flavio Vieira is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta, cross-appointed in the Departments of Agricultural, Food, & Nutritional Science and Pediatrics. Dr. Vieira is a recipient of the Canadian Nutrition Society Postdoctoral Award (2025) and Postdoctoral Fellowships from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2025), Alberta Innovates (2024), and the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (2023). Dr. Vieira completed his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. in Human Nutrition in Brazil, his home country, and holds credentials as a Dietitian both in Canada and Brazil. Dr. Vieira completed a Residency in Clinical Nutrition and a Postgraduate Diploma in Epidemiology. Dr. Vieira’s main research interests are obesity and obesity-related conditions, with work spanning prevention and treatment from pediatrics to older adults, encompassing all aspects of obesity management: nutrition, exercise, behavioural changes, pharmacology, and metabolic bariatric surgery. Primary research outcomes are body composition, muscle health, and energy expenditure.