The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Monday published new guidance in Pediatrics, advising pediatricians and pediatric healthcare providers to provide "immediate, intensive obesity treatment to each patient" as soon as they are diagnosed, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Idaho and Illinois.

• Idaho: The Idaho Supreme Court on Thursday voted 3-2 to uphold several state laws that prohibit abortion in Idaho, ruling that the state's constitution does not include an implicit right to abortion. In the ruling, the court said three state laws—a ban on abortion at conception, a ban after six weeks, and a civil enforcement measure similar to the one in Texas—are constitutional because the state has a "legitimate interest in protecting prenatal fetal life in all stages of development, and in protecting the health and safety of the mother." Under the ruling, most abortions will not be permitted unless it is necessary to save a pregnant person's life or in cases of rape or incest. According to Justice Robyn Brody, who wrote the majority opinion, if the right to abortion was implied in the state's constitution, there would need to be evidence that the right was "deeply rooted" in the state's history and traditions when it was written. "The relevant history and traditions of Idaho show abortion was viewed as an immoral act and treated as a crime," Brody wrote. "Thus, we cannot conclude the framers and adopters of the Inalienable Rights Clause intended to implicitly protect abortion as a fundamental right." (Messerly, Politico, 1/5)

• Illinois: The AAP on Monday published new guidance in Pediatrics, advising pediatricians and pediatric healthcare providers to provide "immediate, intensive obesity treatment to each patient" as soon as they are diagnosed. The guidance is AAP's first clinical practice recommendation that outlines evidence-based evaluation and treatment for children and adolescents who are overweight or obese. "This is one of the most important messages that differentiates our current clinical practice guidelines from the prior recommendations, and that is to say 15 years of data have taught us that 'watchful waiting' only leads to greater increase in child BMI, accumulation of comorbidities, and more challenges in trying to reverse some of this," said author Sarah Armstrong, who serves as co-director of the Duke Center for Childhood Obesity Research. (Henderson, Medpage Today, 1/9)

• Illinois: Walgreens CFO James Kehoe on Thursday announced that the company is considering reducing security measures after investing in additional security last year—a move some executives said was ineffective. "Maybe we cried too much last year," over theft losses, Kehoe said. "We probably put in too much, and we might step back," with the additional security, he added. (Terlep/Nassauer, Wall Street Journal, 1/6)