Ihuoma Eneli, MD, MS

Visiting Professor, Pediatrics-Nutrition


FacultyPhoto
Medical School
  • MD, University of Nigeria, Enugu (1989)
Graduate School
  • MS, Michigan State University (2003)
Internship
  • Michigan State University Program (1994)
Residency
  • Michigan State University Program, Chief Resident, Pediatrics (1997)
Languages
English
Department
Pediatrics-Nutrition

Professional Titles

  • Section Head

Publications

  • Rhodes ET, Phan TT, Earley ER, Eneli I, Haemer MA, Highfield NC, Khan S, Kim G, Kirk S, Sullivan EM, Stoll JM, Werk LN, Zeribi KA, Forrest CB, Lannon C. Patient-Reported Outcomes to Describe Global Health and Family Relationships in Pediatric Weight Management. Child Obes. 2024 Jan;20(1):1-10. PubMed PMID: 36827448
  • Ramel M, Wilfley DE, Tabak R, Lew D, Moursi NA, Kilanowski C, Cook SR, Eneli IU, Quattrin T, Schechtman KB, Epstein LH. Relationships examined: Parent and child readiness to change and sociodemographic characteristics in family based weight loss treatment. Pediatr Obes. 2023 Sep;18(9):e13062. PubMed PMID: 37282798
  • Pratt KJ, Kiser HM, Feng X, VanFossen C, Spees C, Taylor C, Noria S, Eneli I, Skelton JA. Changes in Child Weight, Behaviors, and Family Dynamics during Parental Participation in a Medical Weight Management Program: A Longitudinal Uncontrolled Pilot Study. Child Obes. 2023 Mar;19(2):102-111. PubMed PMID: 35483051
  • Epstein LH, Wilfley DE, Kilanowski C, Quattrin T, Cook SR, Eneli IU, Geller N, Lew D, Wallendorf M, Dore P, Paluch RA, Schechtman KB. Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Childhood Obesity Implemented in Pediatric Primary Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023 Jun 13;329(22):1947-1956. PubMed PMID: 37314275
  • Aagaard KM, Barkin SL, Burant CF, Carnell S, Demerath E, Donovan SM, Eneli I, Francis LA, Gilbert-Diamond D, Hivert MF, LeBourgeois MK, Loos RJF, Lumeng JC, Miller AL, Okely AD, Osganian SK, Ramirez AG, Trasande L, Van Horn LV, Wake M, Wright RJ, Yanovski SZ. Understanding risk and causal mechanisms for developing obesity in infants and young children: A National Institutes of Health workshop. Obes Rev. 2024 Jan 11;:e13690. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 38204366
  • Hampl SE, Hassink SG, Skinner AC, Armstrong SC, Barlow SE, Bolling CF, Avila Edwards KC, Eneli I, Hamre R, Joseph MM, Lunsford D, Mendonca E, Michalsky MP, Mirza N, Ochoa ER, Sharifi M, Staiano AE, Weedn AE, Flinn SK, Lindros J, Okechukwu K. Executive Summary: Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Pediatrics. 2023 Feb 1;151(2). PubMed PMID: 36622135
  • Button AM, Paluch RA, Schechtman KB, Wilfley DE, Geller N, Quattrin T, Cook SR, Eneli IU, Epstein LH. Parents, but not their children, demonstrate greater delay discounting with resource scarcity. BMC Public Health. 2023 Oct 12;23(1):1983. PubMed PMID: 37828503
  • Epstein LH, Wilfley DE, Kilanowski C, Quattrin T, Cook SR, Eneli IU, Geller N, Lew D, Wallendorf M, Dore P, Paluch RA, Schechtman KB. Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Childhood Obesity Implemented in Pediatric Primary Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023 Jun 13;329(22):1947-1956. PubMed PMID: 37314275
  • Hampl SE, Hassink SG, Skinner AC, Armstrong SC, Barlow SE, Bolling CF, Avila Edwards KC, Eneli I, Hamre R, Joseph MM, Lunsford D, Mendonca E, Michalsky MP, Mirza N, Ochoa ER, Sharifi M, Staiano AE, Weedn AE, Flinn SK, Lindros J, Okechukwu K. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Pediatrics. 2023 Feb 1;151(2). PubMed PMID: 36622115
  • Pronk NP, Eneli I, Economos CD, Bradley D, Fassbender J, Calancie L, Patawaran W, Hovmand PS. Using Systems Science for Strategic Planning of Obesity Prevention and Treatment: The Roundtable on Obesity Solutions Experience. Curr Probl Cardiol. 2023 Aug;48(8):101240. PubMed PMID: 35513185
  • Svetanoff WJ, Diefenbach K, Hall B, Craver A, Rutledge S, McManaway C, Eneli I, Tobias J, Michalsky MP. Utilization of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol for pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery. J Pediatr Surg. 2023 Apr;58(4):695-701. PubMed PMID: 36641311
  • Eneli I, Xu J, Pratt K. Change in weight category among youth early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Clin Obes. 2022 Jun;12(3):e12522. PubMed PMID: 35385212
  • Freedman DS, Goodwin Davies AJ, Phan TT, Cole FS, Pajor N, Rao S, Eneli I, Kompaniyets L, Lange SJ, Christakis DA, Forrest CB. Measuring BMI change among children and adolescents. Pediatr Obes. 2022 Jun;17(6):e12889. PubMed PMID: 35064761
  • Ramel M, Wilfley DE, Tabak R, Lew D, Moursi NA, Kilanowski C, Cook SR, Eneli IU, Quattrin T, Schechtman KB, Epstein LH. Relationships examined: Parent and child readiness to change and sociodemographic characteristics in family based weight loss treatment. Pediatr Obes. 2023 Sep;18(9):e13062. PubMed PMID: 37282798
  • Rhodes ET, Phan TT, Earley ER, Eneli I, Haemer MA, Highfield NC, Khan S, Kim G, Kirk S, Sullivan EM, Stoll JM, Werk LN, Zeribi KA, Forrest CB, Lannon C. Patient-Reported Outcomes to Describe Global Health and Family Relationships in Pediatric Weight Management. Child Obes. 2024 Jan;20(1):1-10. PubMed PMID: 36827448
  • Svetanoff WJ, Diefenbach K, Hall B, Craver A, Rutledge S, McManaway C, Eneli I, Tobias J, Michalsky MP. Utilization of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol for pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery. J Pediatr Surg. 2023 Apr;58(4):695-701. PubMed PMID: 36641311
  • Hampl SE, Hassink SG, Skinner AC, Armstrong SC, Barlow SE, Bolling CF, Avila Edwards KC, Eneli I, Hamre R, Joseph MM, Lunsford D, Mendonca E, Michalsky MP, Mirza N, Ochoa ER, Sharifi M, Staiano AE, Weedn AE, Flinn SK, Lindros J, Okechukwu K. Executive Summary: Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Pediatrics. 2023 Feb 1;151(2). PubMed PMID: 36622135
  • Hampl SE, Hassink SG, Skinner AC, Armstrong SC, Barlow SE, Bolling CF, Avila Edwards KC, Eneli I, Hamre R, Joseph MM, Lunsford D, Mendonca E, Michalsky MP, Mirza N, Ochoa ER, Sharifi M, Staiano AE, Weedn AE, Flinn SK, Lindros J, Okechukwu K. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Pediatrics. 2023 Feb 1;151(2). PubMed PMID: 36622115
  • Pronk NP, Eneli I, Economos CD, Bradley D, Fassbender J, Calancie L, Patawaran W, Hovmand PS. Using Systems Science for Strategic Planning of Obesity Prevention and Treatment: The Roundtable on Obesity Solutions Experience. Curr Probl Cardiol. 2023 Aug;48(8):101240. PubMed PMID: 35513185
  • Pratt KJ, Kiser HM, Feng X, VanFossen C, Spees C, Taylor C, Noria S, Eneli I, Skelton JA. Changes in Child Weight, Behaviors, and Family Dynamics during Parental Participation in a Medical Weight Management Program: A Longitudinal Uncontrolled Pilot Study. Child Obes. 2023 Mar;19(2):102-111. PubMed PMID: 35483051
  • Freedman DS, Goodwin-Davies AJ, Kompaniyets L, Lange SJ, Goodman AB, Phan TT, Rao S, Eneli I, Forrest CB. Interrelationships among age at adiposity rebound, BMI during childhood, and BMI after age 14 years in an electronic health record database. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022 Jan;30(1):201-208. PubMed PMID: 34932881
  • Bailey LC, Bryan M, Maltenfort M, Block JP, Teneralli R, Lunsford D, Boone-Heinonen J, Eneli I, Horgan CE, Lin PD, Reynolds JS, Solomonides AE, Janicke D, Sturtevant JL, Toh S, Taveras E, Appelhans BM, Arterburn D, Daley MF, Dempsey A, Dugas LR, Finkelstein J, Fitzpatrick SL, Goodman A, Gurka MJ, Heerman WJ, Horberg M, Hossain MJ, Hsia DS, Isasi CR, Kharbanda EO, Messito MJ, Murphy K, O'Bryan K, Peay HL, Prochaska MT, Puro J, Rayas M, Rosenman MB, Taylor B, VanWormer JJ, Willis Z, Yeramaneni S, Forrest CB. Antibiotics prior to age 2 years have limited association with preschool growth trajectory. Int J Obes (Lond). 2022 Apr;46(4):843-850. PubMed PMID: 34999718
  • Epstein LH, Schechtman KB, Kilanowski C, Ramel M, Moursi NA, Quattrin T, Cook SR, Eneli IU, Pratt C, Geller N, Campo R, Lew D, Wilfley DE. Implementing family-based behavioral treatment in the pediatric primary care setting: Design of the PLAN study. Contemp Clin Trials. 2021 Oct;109:106497. PubMed PMID: 34389519
  • Rifas-Shiman SL, Bailey LC, Lunsford D, Daley MF, Eneli I, Finkelstein J, Heerman W, Horgan CE, Hsia DS, Jay M, Rao G, Reynolds JS, Sturtevant JL, Toh S, Trasande L, Young J, Lin PD, Forrest CB, Block JP. Early Life Antibiotic Prescriptions and Weight Outcomes in Children 10 Years of Age. Acad Pediatr. 2021 Mar;21(2):297-303. PubMed PMID: 33130067
  • Fleischman A, Hampl S, Rhodes ET, Sweeney B, Eneli I, Skelton JA. Implementation of recommended treatment for children in weight management programs: Lessons from the stay in treatment study sites. Prev Med. 2024 May;182:107949. PubMed PMID: 38583602
  • Hubbard RA, Xu J, Siegel R, Chen Y, Eneli I. Studying pediatric health outcomes with electronic health records using Bayesian clustering and trajectory analysis. J Biomed Inform. 2021 Jan;113:103654. PubMed PMID: 33309993
  • Freedman DS, Davies AJG, Kompaniyets L, Lange SJ, Goodman AB, Phan TT, Cole FS, Dempsey A, Pajor N, Eneli I, Christakis DA, Forrest CB. A Longitudinal Comparison of Alternatives to Body Mass Index Z-Scores for Children with Very High Body Mass Indexes. J Pediatr. 2021 Aug;235:156-162. PubMed PMID: 33676932
  • Williams D, Chaves E, McKnight E, Eneli I. Diagnostic and treatment challenges of eating disorders after adolescent bariatric surgery: A case report. Clin Obes. 2020 Aug;10(4):e12367. PubMed PMID: 32394622
  • Hubbard RA, Huang J, Harton J, Oganisian A, Choi G, Utidjian L, Eneli I, Bailey LC, Chen Y. A Bayesian latent class approach for EHR-based phenotyping. Stat Med. 2019 Jan 15;38(1):74-87. PubMed PMID: 30252148
  • Pratt KJ, Lazorick S, Eneli I, Collier DN, Skelton JA. Providers' involvement of blended families in pediatric weight management programs. Fam Syst Health. 2019 Dec;37(4):320-327. PubMed PMID: 31613126
  • Hopkins LC, Holloman C, Melnyk B, Fristad M, Goodway JD, Kennel JA, Eneli I, Gunther C. Participation in structured programming may prevent unhealthy weight gain during the summer in school-aged children from low-income neighbourhoods: feasibility, fidelity and preliminary efficacy findings from the Camp NERF study. Public Health Nutr. 2019 Apr;22(6):1100-1112. PubMed PMID: 30604663
  • Woolford SJ, Hassink S, Eneli I. The Young Child with Severe Obesity: Commentary on the Characteristics of a Vulnerable Population and a Framework for Treatment. Child Obes. 2018 Oct;14(7):441-442. PubMed PMID: 30240287
  • Gaffka BJ, Hassink SG, Santos M, Eneli I. Provider Observations of Youth with Early Onset Severe Obesity in Tertiary Care Obesity Programs. Child Obes. 2018 Oct;14(7):477-483. PubMed PMID: 30156432
  • Childerhose JE, Eneli I, Steele KE. Adolescent bariatric surgery: a qualitative exploratory study of US patient perspectives. Clin Obes. 2018 Oct;8(5):345-354. PubMed PMID: 30107093
  • Mirza N, Phan TL, Tester J, Fals A, Fernandez C, Datto G, Estrada E, Eneli I. A Narrative Review of Medical and Genetic Risk Factors among Children Age 5 and Younger with Severe Obesity. Child Obes. 2018 Oct;14(7):443-452. PubMed PMID: 29791184
  • Tester JM, Phan TT, Tucker JM, Leung CW, Dreyer Gillette ML, Sweeney BR, Kirk S, Tindall A, Olivo-Marston SE, Eneli IU. Characteristics of Children 2 to 5 Years of Age With Severe Obesity. Pediatrics. 2018 Mar;141(3). PubMed PMID: 29487163
  • Block JP, Bailey LC, Gillman MW, Lunsford D, Daley MF, Eneli I, Finkelstein J, Heerman W, Horgan CE, Hsia DS, Jay M, Rao G, Reynolds JS, Rifas-Shiman SL, Sturtevant JL, Toh S, Trasande L, Young J, Forrest CB. Early Antibiotic Exposure and Weight Outcomes in Young Children. Pediatrics. 2018 Dec;142(6). PubMed PMID: 30381474
  • Eneli IU, Howell C, Rose ME, Pratt K, Lovegrove EL, Domrose EL, Polas PJ. The Primary Care Obesity Network: Translating Expert Committee Guidelines on Childhood Obesity Into Practice. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2018 Aug;57(9):1069-1079. PubMed PMID: 29260578
  • Dietz WH, Solomon LS, Pronk N, Ziegenhorn SK, Standish M, Longjohn MM, Fukuzawa DD, Eneli IU, Loy L, Muth ND, Sanchez EJ, Bogard J, Bradley DW. An Integrated Framework For The Prevention And Treatment Of Obesity And Its Related Chronic Diseases. Health Aff (Millwood). 2015 Sep;34(9):1456-63. PubMed PMID: 26355046
  • Jasik CB, King EC, Rhodes E, Sweeney B, Mietus-Snyder M, Grow HM, Harris JM 2nd, Lostocco L, Estrada E, Boyle K, Tucker JM, Eneli IU, Woolford SJ, Datto G, Stratbucker W, Kirk S. Characteristics of Youth Presenting for Weight Management: Retrospective National Data from the POWER Study Group. Child Obes. 2015 Oct;11(5):630-7. PubMed PMID: 26440387

Professional Memberships

  • American Academy of Pediatrics Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight, Associate Director
  • The Obesity Society, Member
  • National Academy of Medicine Roundtable on Obesity Solutions, Vice Chair

Practice Locations

Children's Hospital Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
13123 East 16th Ave
Aurora, CO 80045
720-777-1234

Hospital Affiliation
  • Children's Hospital Colorado

Specialty Information

Specialties
  • Pediatrics
Clinical Interests
My clinical interests involve all aspects of obesity care including lifestyle behavior interventions, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery.

Care Philosophy
I am committed to providing the best care for my patients.

Public Speaking
Yes