Childhood obesity is growing to be common in most developing countries like India. According to research in 2010, almost 35 million children affected by childhood obesity were from developing nations.
Childhood obesity is one of the major reasons for children to develop early heart problems. Some of the best heart hospitals in Bangalore and Mumbai provide a complete cure for childhood obesity problems. However, it is important to take some precautionary measures to not get affected by obesity at the very early stages of life.
What is Childhood Obesity?
Several studies from the center for disease control and prevention define overweight as almost 85% to 95% of the BMI index for the particular age group. And obesity is defined as being 95% or more of the BMI index.
Other studies measure obesity and overweight depending upon the body fat accounts. Particularly, male with 25% more fat count is considered as obese, while females with 35% fate count are considered obese.
If you are a parent and if you want to know if your kid is obese or overweight, you no need to scale and measure all these calculations. Just a visual cue would be more than enough to see if your kid is overweight.
Adding, taking your kid to the hospital can help you classify if your kid of obese or overweight and the reason for this weight gain. Many doctors from the best hospital in Bangalore have said that it is extremely important to conduct a health check-up if you identify your kids putting on weight.
Causes of childhood obesity
There are various reasons for childhood obesity. Some of them are given below:
Genetics:
Genetics plays an important role in childhood obesity. It accounts for almost 20-40% of the hereditary body weight. Also, note that the hereditary body weight only comes into a complete picture of the environmental and behavioral factors that are in favor of it.
If an obese person does proper exercise and maintains an appropriate diet, then the hereditary body weight problems can be reduced by 5 percent.
Environmental factors:
Environmental factors are also the reason for childhood obesity. For example, kids with telephones, television, tablets, video games, and other gadgets have higher chances of childhood obesity when compared to children who don’t have access to these.
Another important factor that contributes to childhood obesity would be parental preferences regarding certain foods. In the same way, parental preferences can affect almost every part of the child’s life.
If the parent does not encourage exercising, the child will not too. Intake of high-calorie food without any physical activity will for sure result in obesity. Socio-culture factors, especially in countries like India, play a crucial role in increased weight gain.
For instance, white bread and paunch are considered as high-class in India whereas in foreign countries, people with no access to good food eat them. In the same way, foreign food habits like intaking high-fat foods like burgers and pizza will affect the child’s health in the long-term.
Eating habits:
Eating habits are a vital part of gaining or losing weight. As said above, children who consume high-fat foods and sugary drinks are prone to weight gain, diabetes, heart problems, and a whole bunch of other health issues.
With the growing popularity of fast food in India, children and even parents are getting addicted to its taste, completely ignoring the health factor. One thing that people need to understand is that there is no “cool” food and “uncool” food.
There is just “healthy” and “unhealthy” food. And, you have to take your stand to, maintain good health.
Other psychological disorders:
Children with low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety are often found to snack when compared to mentally stable kids. Also, children who have gone through sexual abuse tend to have unhealthy eating habits.
Dangers of childhood obesity
- Asthma
- Insomnia
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Menstrual abnormalities
- Skin problems
- Eating disorders like bulimia
- Anorexia
- Anxiety and depression
- Loss of communication
- Social anxiety
How to help?
Do not alienate or bully your kid or any kind for that matter of fact for being overweight. It is important to make your kid feel safe and supported. If you are a parent, you should be the one who tries to make lifestyle and diet changes in them.
You should not confine changing lifestyle habits to the kid only. Revamp your whole family’s lifestyle. Plan on doing exercise together. Go for walks, plan treks, and go for a yoga retreat as a family. Most importantly, consult a nutritionist and get a diet chart for the whole family.