A lot of people think that chubby babies refer to healthy babies. Any extra weight more than the recommended weight is per age is stored as Fat. Fat cells multiply in number in childhood and with excess fat stores the number of fat cells increases. Obese children eventually become obese adults as they have a greater number of fat cells compared to non-obese children.
Childhood obesity is in modern times, considered as a severe medical condition. Studies h=show that worldwide one in 10 children are overweight and 6-9% of schoolchildren in India are obese. Childhood obesity can increase risk of various health conditions such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol. Childhood obesity can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression.
Complications of Childhood Obesity:
- High blood pressure and high cholesterol that are risk factors resulting in cardiovascular disease (CVD)
- Increasing the risk of impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.
- Prevalence of breathing problems such as asthma and sleep apnea.
- Increasing joint problems and musculoskeletal discomfort.
- Deficiencies like Iron, B12 etc
- Poor immunity
- Prevalence of psychological problems, such as anxiety and depression in the child.
- Low self-esteem and lower self-reported quality of life.
- The suffering of social problems, such as bullying and stigma.
- Hormonal Disturbances
Causes of Childhood Obesity:
DIET
- Increased intake of energy-dense food, high in fat and sugars but low in vitamins, minerals and other micro nutrients.
- Excess caloric intake, due to the unrestricted access to energy-dense foods at various platforms like a school cafeteria and school neighborhood combined with profound knowledge about dietary components in school children.
- The practice of overfeeding of low-birth-weight babies.
LIFESTYLE
- Lack of physical activity or overindulgence in indoor leisure activities and entertainment.
- Increasing pressure on children to perform in academics and reduced emphasis on sports.
- Television viewing is perhaps the worst established environmental influence on the development of obesity during childhood.
SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS
- Daily allowance to purchase lunch, easy availability of domestic help to take care of household chores, commuting to school by bus or car instead of walking or bicycling.
- Overprotection and forced feeding by parents, false traditional beliefs about health and nutrition, lack of knowledge about food in parents and caregivers, also contribute to obesity.
HORMONAL DISORDERS
- Insulin Resistance, Hypothyroidism, Growth Hormone Deficiency, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
GENETIC CAUSES
- Down syndrome, Turner syndrome
Prevention of Childhood Obesity:
- Encourage healthy eating habits
- Make favorite dishes healthier
- Limiting your child’s consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
- Including plenty of fruits and vegetables in their diet
- Having meals with family as often as possible
- Limiting eating outs, especially fast-food, and when you do eat out, teach your child how to make healthier choices
- Adjusting portion sizes appropriately according to their age
- Limit TV and other “screen time” to less than 2 hours a day for children older than 2, and don’t allow television for children younger than 2
- Be sure your child gets enough sleep.
- Help your kids understand the benefits of being physically active- parents themselves should set a good example for their children where physical fitness is considered.
- Help kids stay active- 60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily.
- Nutrition education and healthy eating habits should be emphasized in schools and family.
The doctors and nutritionists of Define Aesthetics carefully assess every child to analyze the BMI, fat %, type of fat and cause of obesity. Our treatment plan is a multifactorial approach consisting of treatment of associated conditions like Insulin Resistance or other hormonal disturbances, a healthy lifestyle and non-surgical technology Ion Magnum for achieving safe and healthy weight loss.
Ion Magnum mimics these signals so that the muscle tissue is made to believe that it is performing a muscle-toning workout. In return what you get is the benefits of an intense, professional workout minus the pain, physical exertion or inconvenience of conventional exercise. Ion Magnum not only reduces both surface & visceral fat but also builds muscles & improves muscle mass. This naturally increases metabolic rate which further initiates weight loss. It is an FDA approved, Non-surgical & completely safe technology.
