Qui sont les adolescents consultant pour demande de prise en charge d’une obésité dans une Maison des adolescents ? Phénotypes d’une cohorte de 200 patients

[Temporalities of care for obese teenagers]

Obesity in adolescents is a common reason for consulting a physician for angst associated with a need to lose weight. The multidisciplinary treatment takes into account the teenager's temporality. The duration of the initial treatment must be optimised in order to construct, with the teenager, a project which corresponds to his or her particular difficulties.

What is a "Maison des Adolescents"? A history of integrated youth health care services in France

AIM

Since 1999, the development of more than 100 "Maisons des Adolescents" (MDAs) has enabled young persons to gain access to specific care in integrated youth-friendly facilities in France. To contribute to the development and standardization of international youth-friendly health care services, this review provides insight into the French MDA facilities.

METHODS

This socio-historical analysis includes a systematic review of articles referring to the MDAs (selection through title and/or abstract), ministry reports and newspaper articles, from 1999 to 2018.

RESULTS

If the various medical programmes of MDAs depend on the priorities of local teams rather as well as on official regulations, all MDAs offer the following essential services: a "Health and Prevention Space" open daily; multidisciplinary consultations; a mobile team visiting youth hospitalized in medical units; a mobile team able to meet adolescents at their homes; an open centre for art workshops; refresher and remedial courses for school work; network meetings and parent support groups. The MDAs from the start addressed an age group (young people aged 11-21 years) rather than an illness. They thus provide primary prevention for adolescents according to the World Health Organization definition of health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being." This medical and political movement was shaped by the epistemological background of its first leaders.

CONCLUSION

Although more cohort studies to evaluate their early interventions would be useful, the success of the MDA network is already widely acknowledged by users, professionals and policy makers.

[Obesity in adolescents: simple to diagnose, complex to treat]

Obesity concerns 3 to 4% of adolescents between the ages of 11-18. It comes with multiple difficulties. On an immediate level, psychological suffering, the cause and consequence of a social malaise, favours the worsening of the obesity. To a lesser extent, somatic complications are either silent, or associated with a functional impact. Treatment is multi-disciplinary.