One of the most worrying trends about the rising numbers of obese and overweight individuals is the rising number of children and adolescents that are obese and overweight.
Rise in obesity in children.
There seems to be no halt in the progressive rise of this condition among children. In the United States, nearly one third of the child population is affected by obesity or overweight in 2010.
Childhood obesity is on the rise despite awareness campaigns and attention of the print media, school newsletters, and audiovisual media.
Risk factors associated with childhood obesity
Risk factors associated with childhood obesity include:-
• Increased sedentary habits with more time spent before the television and computer game
• Lack of adequate physical activity
• Excessive indulgence in fast foods and consumption of sugary and saturated fat rich foods
• Lack of time on the part of working parents who are unable to cook nutritious meals or supervise outdoor playtime
• Reduced intake of fresh fruits and vegetables
• Rise of urban and suburban crimes that keep children away from out of doors
Obesity itself is the cause for several health conditions including
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Gall bladder and fatty liver disease
• Arthritis and some cancers
Among children the problem takes a two headed approach. The first one is affliction of children with many of these disease conditions like heart disease and diabetes. This raises the possibility of the children having to cope with chronic illnesses for an unusually extended time period, if they develop it so young.
This raises the possibility of long term complications. For example, diabetes leads to diabetic retinopathy and eye damage eventually. Children who develop diabetes are more likely to have their vision impaired due to the longer duration of the condition when compared with adults who develop diabetes.
The second part of the problem is that many of these disease conditions may be silent among obese children and manifest only when serious damage has been done. This considerably raises the risk of illness and a shorter lifespan.
Childhood obesity also raises the risk of developing several cancers including breast cancer, bowel cancer, womb or endometrial cancer, esophagus cancer, cancers of the gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, kidney, pancreas, prostate and blood cancers like multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Prevention of childhood obesity
• Adoption of a healthy lifestyle with balanced and nutritious diet and increased physical activity.
• Fostering a healthy lifestyle by families, communities, schools, child care settings etc. Support of the endeavours of preventing intake of fast foods and junk foods by the media, government agencies and the food and beverage industries and entertainment industries.
