Obesity in children : what are the health risks

Posted on June 23, 2014 by john in Daily health tips for kids, Health risks of obesity

The weight in childhood, especially during puberty and adolescence-determined body size will have a person during his adult life. A specialist explains to Infobae.

Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, both in our country and throughout the Western world, has become an epidemic in recent years. According to the World Health Organization, Argentina has the highest rate of childhood obesity in children under 5 years, with a prevalence rate of 7.3%. According to a survey conducted in 2012 by the Ministry of Health of the Nation, 1 in 3 adolescents between 13 and 15 years are overweight or obese.

The weight in childhood, especially during puberty and adolescence, determines the weight that a person during his adult life. The excess is associated with heart disease, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and stroke, diabetes, respiratory problems such as sleep apnea and other diseases such as psychosocial.

It is essential that all children are screened by their pediatrician. The diagnosis of obesity must be performed by your doctor taking into account the ratio between weight and height, which is done through the Body Mass Index (BMI, or BMI for its acronym in English). For that, pediatricians and specialists have tables to assess what degree of overweight, if diagnosed, presented each child.

In cases of childhood obesity, 95% are due to external factors, ie that are not secondary to other disease or syndrome. Exogenous obesity has both environmental causes - that is dependent on eating habits and physical inactivity-such as genetic causes. In approximately 60-70% of cases of childhood obesity, family history are obese.

From the cultural point of view, there are several factors that facilitate the development of overweight in everyday life. It is essential to act on the feeding habits of children from early on, as these are the habits that will lead a healthy adulthood.

Children and adolescents are exposed to numerous situations in which you carry adequate food difficult. Such is the case of recess at school, going out or birthdays. On these occasions can be almost impossible to completely forbid them to eat the food served.

The key in these cases is to emphasize that there are healthier than other foods, and they are not as healthy as sweets or snacks, it is preferable to consume them only in certain special situations, not every day. For example, if a birthday can choose to eat some things like chips or a piece of cake, but the usual power house try to serve bread, toast or cereal instead of stuffed cookies.

After a certain age, children begin to spend more and more time away from home and adolescents may have numerous extracurricular activities, so take food from home or buy elsewhere. It is important in these cases to ensure that the food is healthy, nutritious and of course to remain rich. It is advisable to include in the lunch box foods from all groups of the food pyramid in the right proportion, ie more protein (meat and dairy), carbohydrates (such as pasta, vegetables and fruits) and avoid foods high in sugar as fat potato chips or some frozen foods. Some meats could be healthy vegetable pies, salads with chicken, tuna or rice and fruit for dessert or as a snack.

Keep in mind that, for kids to choose healthy foods away from home, they have chosen and eating them within it. It is at this point that both parents and pediatricians and specialists, we can help.

It is essential to prevent obesity from an early age, both through acquiring healthy eating habits, and promoting physical activity.