Childhood obesity is becoming a threat to the children. Due to lifestyle changes that have been seen in the recent years, children are vulnerable and most of them are finding comfort in food. This in turn is causing childhood obesity and exposing them to dangerous health conditions.
Apart from exposing them to chronic diseases, obesity is affecting their physical health. The obese children usually suffer from low self-esteem because of being bullied by their peers. A child grows feeling unwanted and at times they even sound suicidal.
It is important to take precaution once you notice your children are not heading to the right direction health wise. This will save both of you the trauma that comes with obesity as well as money you may use while engaging a psychologist and nutritionist.
So what causes child obesity, what are the diseases and how is obesity prevented? This can be caused by several factors:
Causes
- Inherited
There is a high likelihood that children born of obese parents or other family members are obese, they will eventually become obese. Genes have a very big role to play when it comes to being overweight. It is very unfortunate that genes also contribute to childhood obesity.
- Foods
Eating foods that have high calorie content like carbohydrates and soft drinks contributes to this disorder. Children if are not monitored on what to eat they tend to eat whatever is available. They don’t know the value of eating foods that have health benefits in their bodies.
It is advisable to give children foods which are well balanced. Ensure that you teach them too on the value of eating good health foods to prevent obesity. For example, vegetables, fruits, and foodsthose are low in sugar and fats are most preferred.
- Lack of exercises
Exercises are very crucial activities that children should be encouraged to engage in. It both engages them physically and mentally. When a child is busy the thought of rushing to bite a snack is very minimal. It also makes them active thus burning calories from their bodies.
On the other hand you can reduce the time children stay watching the television. Most children who are obese spend most of their time watching TV which means they are immobile. They stay in one place for a considerable amount of time and during this time they are snacking on something.
- Psychological issues
There are some children who get stressed or are depressed and turn their frustrations to eating. They tend to get their comfort through eating and they have no control of whatever they put in their mouths. These children in turn gain weight and end up becoming obese.
Others may become obese because of emotional problems. For example, most of the children who come from unstable families tend to seek comfort from filling their plates to avoid facing their problems
Diseases
- Diabetes
One cause of obesity in children is taking foods which are high in sugar. This leads to development of insulin resistance and makes cells more resistant to the effects of insulin. This causes type 2 diabetes which leads to other complications which are kidney dysfunctions, nerve damage and eye problems.
- Heart Diseases
Obese children also develop coronary heart diseases and this can lead to stroke and heart attack. This may be caused by high cholesterol level. Cholesterol can be deposited in the blood through Low Density Lipoproteins and this can cause heart attack.
- Cancer
These children are also at a high risk of suffering from cancer. The research was done by Health Researchers and they found that overweight children have a higher chance of suffering from cancer than their peers who are not.
- Skin Problems
This is another dilemma for these children. The folds that come up when at this stage, become irritated because of rubbing and sweating and this attracts skin infections like heat rashes etc.
- Sleep disorders
When children are obese, they tend to have a sleeping disorder. They snore and are not able to sleep properly. The weight which is usually found around the neck causes the airwaves to block, thus causing the disorder.
- Joint pains
Due to the weight these children carry, they develop joint pains. The joints become stiff due to carrying excessive weight.
Asthma
This is because the air passages are usually blocked. This is caused by excessive fats around the neck thus causing difficulties in breathing.
Prevention
- Try to make the environment for such children friendly and engage them to physical exercises. Obese children don’t need to be scolded and laughed at. They need some encouragement and being engaged in physical activities.
- Encourage and teach them to count the calorie content of any meals before they consume. You can teach them to do so and ensure they adhere to that rule. They should also take at least 8 glasses of water daily. Discourage them from visiting fast foods restaurants but instead take their meals from home.
- Teach them on health eating. Actually, most obese children copy the bad eating habits from their parents. If you change your diets at home to healthy diets, you will realize the children will adapt. Replace all the junk foods in your house to vegetables, fruits and other health foods.
Conclusion
It is not right to raise children that are obese. This is denying our children to enjoy their childhood and encourage stress related disease. A child should feel wanted and accepted at all times without having to beg for that. Obese children find time adjusting and they are always feel resentment due to their conditions.
There are several books that have been written by health researchers that can help by providing information about childhood obesity. Meanwhile this article gives a conclusive understanding on this topic. If we put this into consideration and follow to the letter then there will be a tremendous decrease of childhood obesity.
