Pediatricians now have a better tool for reducing childhood obesity after a key study found the combination of phentermine and topiramate significantly reduces body mass index. "It helps our ability to understand the effects on kids, who have different safety profiles than adults," said Ashley Shoemaker, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

"Kids who received the study drug who were starting to see weight loss often got more motivated about lifestyle changes."

Shoemaker noted that both drugs have long been approved for other indications, and some pediatricians have been using them off-label to treat childhood obesity in cases where other interventions have failed. However, the combination had not been rigorously tested in pediatric patients. "We just didn't have the data," Shoemaker said.