Overcoming Childhood Obesity
Introduction
Childhood obesity is a condition whereby the excess body fat is seen to affect the health of the child or their wellbeing negatively. The methods to determine body fat directly are difficult. This problem has been rising in an alarming rate and therefore this has been considered a concern in the public health.
Children who are obese often suffer from teasing from their age mates and sometimes they are even their family members discriminate them. To avoid stigmatization many people have preferred to use overweight rather than obese. The rates of obesity in children have increased tremendously between early 1980 and 2010. Currently is estimated that 10% of the children globally have the problem of obesity or overweight.
Effects on health
The most common health effects on children with overweight problem are the psychological and the emotional. Overweight conditions in children may also lead to more serious and fatal problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, problems in sleeping among others. It can also lead to early puberty. Liver diseases, eating disorders, skin infections and problems in the respiratory system like asthma. Overweight children most likely grow up to be overweight. Obesity during childhood increases the rate of mortality when such children grow up.
Cultures and behaviors that encourage obesity
Dietary
It is difficult to determine the effects of eating habits on the obesity if the children. In many cultures children depend on fast foods. The shops offering fast foods are also located in areas which the children frequent. This makes them readily available for consumption by the children. The fast foods are the foods known to contain more calories which are responsible for the disorder.
These industries have spent a lot of money targeting the young ones. They are enticed at the restaurants in order to continue with the consumption by giving them what they like most. For example they are given toys. In many cultures the whole milk which is recommended for the young ones has been replaced with sweetened foods which carry within them a lot of fats and calories.
This is common in the developed countries where the children can afford to go to the restaurants as well as afford the sweetened foods. In many Africa countries for example it is not common to find obese children due to the available eating habits. The children mostly depend on the whole milk and milk from their mothers which has no risk of contacting the problems of obesity.
Sedentary lifestyle
When a person stays in an inactive state there is a risk of getting obese. This is so because when a person is inactive and the eating habits are still those of calories they will have unused energy fats in their bodies. These unused body masses are stored in the body and lead to the obesity. Excessive carbohydrate feeding leads to excess energy being stored in the body as fat and also excessive feeding on fats which are dangerous.
Inactivity in many children is caused by stationary work. This is whereby the kids spend most of their time doing work which involves no movement. Some of these stationary activities include the computer games, watching of the television and also improvement in the technology which makes people to be less active.
These cultures are found mostly among the rich people where the children have a lot of leisure at the expense of exercising. Among the elite group in the society there have been this increased trend and it has become hard to solve it because the children find exercising to be like a punishment from their older ones.
It is rare to find obese children in the poor families and cultural groups. This is because the children from these groups have no access to luxurious lifestyles which cause them not to exercise. Exercising like playing is taken as luxury to such children and this helps them avoid obesity problems.
Children from poor cultures are also exposed to work and this acts as a form of exercise to them and it becomes hard to get such children becoming obese. On the contrary it is hard to find a child performing even the simple tasks from the rich cultures and groups. Working in children though should not be confused with child labor; children should only be allowed to perform easy exercise.
In the United States the inactivity of many children has been linked to obesity. Many children are even becoming overweight at very early ages. The inactivity was mostly seen to be contributed by lack of motivation from the teachers and parents. When playing facilities like balls and toys are availed to these children they are ready to play.
In these cultures the parents are also very busy to find time with their children where they can motivate them and show them some simple exercises to perform. This will automatically lead to them just eating without exercising which is very dangerous. In some cultures the parents spend more time with their children and they control the activities they engage in. This makes them very active and at less chances of experiencing overweight problems because most of their energy is used; their eating habits are also controlled and they don’t eat junk food.
Home environment
The family lifestyle like the meals they eat will affect the type of meal the child will most probably choose to eat. In many families also the children are allowed to select the type of meal to eat but in others they eat what is available and what the parents finds good for them. This difference has cause the obesity in the case where the child will have a craving for foods which are high in fats and they don’t exercise.
Children who eat family meals which have balanced diet with the provision of the required food components in the less likely to develop obese related problems as compared to those who can eat anywhere they wish especially the adolescents who can decide not to eat family food but eat from friends or restaurants.
Developmental factors
The weight of a baby can be determined at the infancy stage. This is mostly influenced by the rate and time taken during breastfeeding period. Children being breastfed for long time are less likely to develop weight problems as compared top those who only breast feed for short period.
Medical illness
Conditions which the body of the child has excess amounts of Cortisol may influence the obesity of children. This condition is caused Cushing’s syndrome. There are also hormonal causes of obesity among the children. One of these cause are the hypothyroidism.
Genetic factor
The genealogy of a baby plays a role in the obesity of that baby. For example some genes make the children to have more appetite than others. This increased appetite may lead to obesity if the types of foods eaten by such children are not controlled.
Reference
Berg, M.F. (2003). Underage and overweight: American childhood obesity epidemic- What parents need to know 1st Ed. USA: Hatherleigh press
Smith, C.J. (1999). Understanding childhood obesity: Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi
Thomason, C. (2006). Overcoming childhood obesity 1st Ed. USA: Bull publishing Company
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