The last years in the whole World the obesity in children has been increasing in an alarming way. Now a days many countries are trying to do something to make their children’s life healthier. Obesity affects psychologically and physically that is why we need to change this situation. The problem of obesity in children can be solved by doing a nutritional culture at an early age and an exercise program for elementary school.
To date, there has not been the same degree of agreement on the classification of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, as is the case with adults. In adults, to characterize an overweight or obese person, we use the BMI (Body Mass Index calculated from the formula: BMI = weight / (height)) 2 while reference curves are defined for children but there is no universally accepted limit.
Growth reference tables have been created based on the weight-to-age and height-to-age ratio. However, these figures only indicate the size of the child and provide no indication of the relative thickness of the child. A general rule that could be said about children is that BMI is changing significantly with increasing age, increasing sharply in infancy, decreasing in pre-school age and increasing again during adolescence and early years of adulthood. It should be noted, however, that we can not be sure that the excess weight in a child is due to growth retardation or excess fat.
The causes of childhood obesity that is plaguing an increasing number of countries are many such as:
– Genetic predisposition.
– Obesity during pregnancy.
– Excessive feeding during infancy and childhood.
– Foods with low nutritional value and high calories.
– Secure meal times.
– Lack of exercise associated with increased inactivity.
– Increased stress.
Recent studies have shown that there is a high prevalence of childhood obesity and that its rates are rising dangerously. Obesity tends to become the scourge of the 21st century.
Unfortunately, our country is no exception! A major national and social problem is developing obesity in our country, which is beginning to "hit" the US population literally from the cradle. It seems year after year the US constantly struggles with the problem of childhood obesity.
The problem of childhood obesity, has enormous implications, both at a personal and social level: it is predicted to become more morbid at a young age.
Some symptoms related to obesity in children and adolescents include:
Psychosocial problems, Children in pre-pubertal age associate the shape of an overweight body with low sociability and poor academic performance, physical fitness and character problems. Among adolescents, cross-sectional studies consistently show a negative correlation between body weight, self-esteem and body image.
Excessive weight during adolescence can also be associated with social and economic problems in adulthood. A large prospective study in the US showed that women who were overweight during their puberty and early years of adulthood were more likely to have low incomes, higher rates of poverty and lower marriage rates than other women who had other forms of chronic disease during puberty
Other health problems include, an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, linked to dyslipidemia (increased levels of cholesterol, lipids and lipoproteins in the blood) c hypertension associated with increased accumulation of abdominal fat.
Disturbed glucose metabolism and insulin resistance resulting in cases of obese children who have suffer from diabetes to be on the rise.
Orthopedic complications, obese children tend to have orthopedic disorders, the most serious of which is related to femoral head slipping and Blount disease (a bone deformity due to tibial overgrowth). Also children with extra weight have increased sensitivity for ankle sprains.
Finally, other complications such as, Liver and gastrointestinal disorders, sleep apnea and endocrine disorders.
The most important and long-term consequence of childhood obesity is maintaining it into adulthood. Especially when in childhood we have hyperplastic obesity, while in adults there is hypertrophic obesity. The difference is that the number of adipocytes increases in children, while in adulthood it only increases in size (hypertrophy).
Simply put, an obese child who will not deal with the problem in time is almost always doomed to become an obese adult. Also, elevated lipid levels, hypertension and childhood hyperinsulinemia are all transferred to adulthood and the presence of obesity during childhood is an important prognostic factor for the values of these variables in adulthood.
The objectives of weight reduction strategies for children differ from those for adults because the physical and mental development of children should be taken into account. Thus, treating adults may be aimed at weight loss, but, the treatment of children should be aimed at taking up this increase.
Muscle mass of the body increases with the age of the children. So reducing fat or maintaining it at steady levels will result in the body weight stabilizing. As a result, it is easier for a child to grow (to increase his height and muscle mass) and not to lose weight on the scales.
Although I can go into a more extensive analysis of what parents can do to deal with the overweight of children, I would summarize the solutions on two main axis:
Reducing caloric intake while improving nutritional quality. More analytically, it is very important to urge all children, whether they are obese or not, to follow healthy eating habits from an early age and to maintain them in adulthood.
By drafting a diet for an obese child, we should be very careful about the caloric limitations, as it requires the intake of sufficient amount of calories and nutrients in order not to disturb normal growth and development. increasing physical activity. All children should be encouraged to be as physically active as possible. It also seems that children are able to burn calories more effectively through an increase in general physical activity and play rather than through competitive sports and organized exercises.
This is because obese children tend to be particularly sensitive to the behavior of their peers with regard to their body shape and athletic abilities. In addition to increased caloric consumption, the increase in physical activity is combined with other benefits, such as:
Less time for snacks and fast food.
Effect on the differentiation of body composition and muscle tissue growth that entails an increase in the basal metabolic rate and total daily energy consumption.
Positive effect on appearance and body aesthetics.
Finally, increased activity is undoubtedly associated with a decrease in sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity. The sharp rise in overweight in childhood is accompanied by an explosive increase in children's passive occupations, such as computer games and television viewing.
Television is the main cause of physical inactivity and is also associated with increased consumption of energy-rich snacks (potato chips, shrimps, sweets).
In conclusion, it should be stressed that parents, as they care for the education of their children, must take care of their health. So while the children's program in today's world is overloaded with foreign languages, tutorials and other lessons, we will definitely have to think seriously to find time for physical exercise because that's where the health starts.
As we saw, obesity in children can be solved by taking action in the nutritional education of children and in the way that they see sports. And as a result, children in the world are going to grow healthier and with a different mentality about what they should and shouldn’t eat, and what they have to do to keep their body and mind healthy.