Childhood obesity: All you need to know about its causes and prevention

Dr Suruchi Goyal Agarwal, Consultant Pediatrics, Columbia Asia Hospital Whitefield, tells you how to prevent childhood obesity.

Editorial Team | Updated: October 6, 2018 11:28 am

Your child should be physically active to get rid of obesity. © Shutterstock

Childhood obesity tops the charts of one of the most serious challenges of public health in the 21^st century. “The current day lifestyle has become so bad that childhood obesity has reached almost epidemic like levels in both developed and developing countries of the world. Being overweight does not only have a grave physical impact on children, but also affects them psychologically. In a study conducted in 2010, 42 million children under the age of 5 were recorded to be obese globally. Out of these 35 million belonged to developing countries,” says Dr Suruchi Goyal Agarwal, Consultant Pediatrics, Columbia Asia Hospital Whitefield. Here Dr Agarwal lists out prevention and causes of it.

Simply speaking, obesity can be explained as excess body fat (BF). An Indian study, explains that children with BMI above 85^th percentile and below 95^thpercentile are considered overweight, while those above 95^thpercentile are obese.

Obesity is a result of the imbalance between a child’s energy intake and its consequent expenditure. Although genetics does increase the risk of obesity in children, it is primarily today’s sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle that is to be blamed.

Diet is one of the main factors that affects a child’s body weight. While earlier children were encouraged to eat healthy and take in plenty of nutrients throughout the day, these days both parents are usually working and hardly have the time to worry about the nutritional intake of their offspring.

In the past, a day out for a child meant a visit to the park along with a delicious home cooked picnic, these days it means visiting the nearest flashy mall and stuffing down processed or fast food that has high calorie content and absolutely no nutrient value. Families tend to eat out more these days than before. Children today are used to foods that have excess sugar, fat and high calories.

Moreover, even for children lifestyle today has become extremely sedentary. Children today are found spending majority of their free time in front of the television, watching a cartoon or playing video games. Gone are those days when parks and streets were filled with young boys and girls cycling, skating, playing a sport or skipping. Moreover, the pressure of school and homework keeps most children indoors these days.

These lifestyle changes have drastically affected child health, resulting in childhood obesity and other medical problems.

Preventing childhood obesity is not a difficult task, parents and guardians primarily need to ensure that their children eat healthy and stay active. A growing body needs plenty of nutrients, thus healthy snacks and nutrient rich meals are the key to provide your child with sufficient energy throughout the day.

Children need to exert the energy that they intake in the form of food. This makes physical activity a must in a child’s daily life. Ensure that your child plays a sport regularly and spends his free time efficiently. Make sure that children exercise their body as well as their brains.

A healthy child is that who eats well, sleeps well, and is physically active.

Published: October 6, 2018 11:02 am | Updated:October 6, 2018 11:28 am

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