Childhood Obesity is giving an emergency alarm for parents and the government. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, USA, obesity in school children has increased by 12% in 3 years, reaching around 27% in 2008. If this keeps on increasing it will soon become a national epidemic in the United States.
Causes of Childhood Obesity
- Poor diet habits
- Lack of physical activity
- Genetic Problems
Dangers of Childhood Obesity
Usually an obese child has 50% possibility of becoming an obese adult, and the risk will increase to 80% if one of the parents is obese.
The dangers of childhood obesity include mental, psychological, and physical disorders.
Psychological Effects: Obesity has a severe effect on the emotions of the kid. Some of the psychological are
- Laziness
- Low self-esteem
- Carelessness
Mental Effects
Motivation: Due to their overweight, most of the obese kids lose motivation. Their bodies do not support in doing many things, they just keep on postponing their work.
Lack of confidence: Most of the obese children loose their confidence, as they continuously compare themselves physically with others.
Depression: Usually the obese kids will be out-casted among the kids, and severe peer pressure lead them to depression.
Physical Effects
Obese kids develop many internal diseases from a very young age. Usually these diseases do not show much effect in this age, as the immune system in the kids will be good. They develop internally, and show their effect once the immunity system gets low. Examples for these are, the heart attacks we see in the young adults. And the other effects include:
- Obesity children have a greater risk of getting type II diabetes
- By an early age, obese kids develop joint and muscle pains
- Many obese children develop breathing problems, due to the narrowing of air valves. This leads to problems like asthma, insomnia.
How to Deal with Childhood Obesity?
Awareness in Parents: It is high time that parents put their serious efforts in increasing awareness about obesity and its related complications. Lack of time to spend for family because of erratic work schedules of the corporate sectors cannot be an excuse any more. The time has come to decide whether they would take care of the health of their family members or be ready to pay huge medical bills later.
Discipline in Children: Obesity can be handled with proper self discipline and positive attitude. If parents themselves are into regular physical fitness regimes, it installs discipline and health consciousness in the children from an early age. By the time these children reach their teenage, exercise will become a part of their system and they will not be influenced by their peer group to indulge into bad eating habits and leading a sedentary life style.
