Obesity in Children
By: maiagaithers on (0 comments)
Childhood overweight and obesity is a growing problem today. About one-third of the children in this country are overweight.[1] That equals about 9 million children. An additional 15% of our children are at risk for becoming overweight.[2] Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. That risk increases to 80% if one of their parents is overweight.[3]
These statistics are staggering. However, what is even more disturbing is the rapid rate at which childhood obesity is increasing. The number of children that are overweight has tripled since 1980 and continues to rise. This is of great importance because of the serious health consequences that obesity causes. In addition, children of African-American or Latino descent are disproportionately more obese that children of other cultures, where nearly 40% of the children are overweight or obese. So this is a problem that directly affects our community.
Children that are overweight or obese have a significantly higher risk of developing chronic health problems earlier in life. These health problems include but are not limited to heart disease, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, type II Diabetes Mellitus. They are also at an increased risk of developing hormonal and growth disturbances, osteoarthritis and other bone and joint disorders, obstructive sleep apnea, and liver disease among other things. All of these conditions decrease an individual’s quality of life as well as potential life span.
Causes of Overweight and Obesity
Overweight and obesity are caused by a multitude of factors. These include increased caloric intake, decreased activity, and genetic and metabolic factors. Because the current gene pool has not changed or evolved rapidly but obesity has, we must then focus our attention and efforts on the other factors that are involved. Although genetics may play a small role, the larger area of concern and potential influence is our caloric intake and activity level. We can not control our genetics but we can control our habits.
Overweight is caused by an energy imbalance. When you consume more calories than you use, weight gain occurs. Today we are eating a lot more processed and fast foods. This greatly increases our caloric intake without giving us the balanced nutrition that we need. Also, children are much less active than in previous generations. This is due to increased television watching and video game playing combined with decreased physical activity during and after school. African-American children are prone to watching more television and participating in decreased organized sports activities. In addition, children from homes of a lower income are less likely to participate in organized or free time sports activities. This is partly due to the lack of a safe environment for the children to play outdoors. Children are less likely to walk to school as previous generations due to various safety concerns. So we have to make a concerted effort to facilitate activities in which our children can participate. This can be very difficult.
What Can We Do to Help Our Children?
One of the main things we can do is to offer children as many healthy options as possible. It is more advantageous if the whole family decides to change and be healthier together. Children of parents that enthusiastically eat in a healthy manner with a good amount of physical activity are more likely to institute the same behaviors for life.[4] If your child is in middle school or high school, encourage active participation in organized sports that accommodate their innate skill sets. The benefit of this is multifold. It will help them to feel accomplished and increase their self-esteem. They will be more well-rounded and better candidates for college or whatever career path that they choose because they will develop better interpersonal and team building skills.
Try to encourage your children to eat five to nine fruits and vegetables a day. This may be difficult at first so start small. Begin by offering small amounts of fruits or vegetables with each meal as you gradually decrease the portion sizes of meats and starches (rice, pasta, etc.) on the plates. Begin offering fruits and vegetables as snacks instead of chips, cookies, fast food and sodas. If your child refuses the changes initially, don’t be discouraged. Keep trying different varieties of healthy choices until you stumble on something that they like. Try to serve chicken and fish more than beef or pork. Also try to cook using vegetable oil instead of lard or other meat based oils. Try to bake and grill your meats instead of frying it. Try fresh vegetables or lightly steam them instead of frying or saut?ing them in creamy sauces. Substitute lower fat options when possible.
As always, any new diet or exercise regimen, should be reviewed by a doctor first. There are several reasons for this. First, a doctor perform a full physical exam and laboratory tests to make sure that there aren’t any medical problems that could be contributing to the weight problem. Second, the doctor can check to make sure that the child is physically able to participate in the exercise regimen that is being considered. Last, the doctor can help guide nutrition and dietary choices to ensure that essential nutrients are included in the diet as caloric intake is reduced.
Any weight loss should be gradual and done under the supervision of a physician to ensure that it is done safely with long lasting effects. Once all of these recommendations have been integrated into permanent lifestyle changes, a reduction in weight and the potential health consequences of obesity should be greatly decreased. As a result, there will be an improvement in the overall quality of life now and in the future.
References
[1] www.letsmove.org
Nutriton.gov | Weight Management for Youth website
[2] 1999 – 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
[3] The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity
[4] The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity
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