Meet the COMs: Professor Anne Rochtus, University Hospital Leuven

Meet the COMs: Professor Anne Rochtus, University Hospital Leuven

Meet Prof Dr Anne Rochtus, who co-leads a paediatric COM at the Paediatric Obesity unit in the University Hospital Leuven, Belgium, alongside Dr An Jacobs and Prof Dr Kristina Casteels. All three professionals are paediatric endocrinologists, dedicated to advancing paediatric obesity care. This COM has a dedicated multidisciplinary team consisting of three paediatric endocrinologists, two dietitians, a physiotherapist, a social assistant, a secretary, and a psychologist. Together, this team provides comprehensive obesity management services to children and families, which includes medical nutrition therapy, psychological evaluation and counselling support, behaviour modification training, physiotherapy, and pharmacotherapy. We recently spoke with Prof Dr Rochtus to learn more about this COM’s recent achievements, challenges, and future plans.

Thank you for joining us! Can you share some recent highlights from the work of your COM?

Over the past year, we have made significant progress in our research efforts, with several papers published and others in revision. Our published papers have included focus on topics such as the impact of maternal weight change on offspring obesity, the effectiveness of obesity management drugs like semaglutide and liraglutide in adolescents, and the evolution of BMI in children with type 1 diabetes. You can access these publications below:

Education and research are key to advancing obesity care. How does your COM promote staff education to offer enhanced obesity management?

Education is a crucial aspect of our work. We offer a postgraduate course for residents in Paediatrics and encourage our team to participate in training opportunities provided by the Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO). In terms of research, we are engaged in clinical trials, including those on the integration of technology such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence into our clinical follow-up, which we see as vital for the future.

What is your approach to patient care, and how do you address challenges you face as part of delivering this care?

Our patient care philosophy is centred on promoting sustainable lifestyle changes for long-term health. We measure patient satisfaction using questionnaires, ensuring our care remains patient-focused. One of our main challenges is missed appointments by families. To address this, we are refining our strategies and policies to better support our patients and make it easier to maintain high engagement with obesity care. We also believe that technology plays an important part in future clinical practice and must be integrated with obesity management to optimise patient follow-up, which could potentially support this. For children and adolescents who are dealing with obesity that has a significant impact on their health—specifically those at stage 2 or higher according to the EOSS-P scale—there is specialised care provided in what we call Paediatric Multidisciplinary Obesity Centres, or PMOCs. These centres are part of the second line of healthcare, meaning they offer more specialised treatment after initial interventions. Belgium has established 25 of these PMOCs spread across the country, ensuring that children and adolescents up to the age of 18 have access to this essential care. What’s more, the specialised care provided in these centres is reimbursed, which makes it more accessible to families.

Looking ahead, what are your COM’s main goals for the next 3-5 years, and how do you plan to engage with the broader obesity care community?

We are at a milestone moment and in the midst of reforming our multidisciplinary consultation with the support of the government. Our goals include optimising our practices, integrating advanced technology into patient follow-up, and recruiting motivated healthcare professionals. We also hope to participate in a future COMs Summit, are strengthening our connection with the Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO), and are exploring international collaborations with other clinical research teams to broaden our impact.

Thank you, Prof Dr Rochtus, for sharing these updates. We look forward to following this COM’s progress.

This ‘Meet the COMs’ edition featured Prof Dr Anne Rochtus and the paediatric COM based at University Hospital Leuven, Belgium. Prof Dr Rochtus shared insights into this COM’s multidisciplinary approach, including their recent involvement in the STEP YOUNG clinical trial and other research, common challenges faced such as missed appointments, and goals for the future.