Obesity in Childhood

Childhood obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide. The greatest concern is that obese children are likely to become obese adults and this is directly linked with an increased disease risk and early death in adult life.

Social discrimination is one of the more imminent consequences of a child being overweight, and this in turn is associated with poor self-esteem and depression from a young age. These obese children are also more likely to develop gastrointestinal problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, certain orthopaedic problems and cardiovascular disease than children with a normal weight.

The cause of obesity is complex with many contributing factors; some of which cannot be changed such as genetics, maternal and early nutrition and culture. However, there is a great deal that one can still do about this problem:

Reduce the energy intake:
Especially school going children are prone to eat fast foods at school and when back at home they still eat their normal foods. This extra intake of energy without additional exercise certainly contributes to excessive weight gain.

Increase physical activity:
Inactive children have double the risk of becoming obese. The ideal is to assist children in finding activities and interests that keep them moving and being physical active.

Stop the crash diets:
Unnecessary variation between weight loss and weight gain is thought to be associated with an increase in body fat percentage in the long run. Rather encourage a consultation with a health care professional to determine whether a child's weight is healthy, if they need to grow into their weight or if weight loss is necessary. If weight loss is necessary, foods should not be labelled as good or bad, but rather on an 'all foods can fit' basis. Registered dieticians can assist in this regard.

Educate the parent or caregiver:
This is an important aspect which is often neglected. Children learn by modelling their parents or caregivers so gradually changing the family's physical activity and eating habits should be the focus rather than just the child's weight and diet.