AnyBanter: Children’s Obesity Threatens an Entire Generation

Children’s Obesity Threatens an Entire Generation

Excerpt from Bios Life Newsletter. This is 1 in a 3 part article about child obesity. Parents, keep your child healthy!

All kids should be gaining weight as they grow older, but extra pounds—more than what’s needed to support normal growth and development—can lead to childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start kids on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

What Causes Childhood Obesity?Many factors—usually working in combination—increase your child's risk of becoming overweight:

Diet. Eating high-calorie foods, such as fast foods and vending machine snacks, contribute to weight gain. High-fat foods are dense in calories. Loading up on soft drinks, candy, and desserts also can cause weight gain.

Inactivity. Sedentary kids are more likely to gain weight because they don't burn calories through physical activity. Inactive leisure activities, such as watching television or playing video games, contribute to the problem.

Genetics. If your child comes from a family of overweight people, they may be genetically predisposed to put on excess weight, especially in an environment where high-calorie food is always available and physical activity isn't encouraged.

Psychological factors. Some children overeat to cope with problems or to deal with emotions, such as stress or boredom. Their parents may have similar tendencies.
Family factors. Most children don't shop for the family's groceries. Parents are responsible for putting healthy foods in the kitchen at home and leaving unhealthy foods in the store. You can't blame your kids for being attracted to sweet, salty, and fatty foods; after all they taste good. But you can control much of their access to these foods, especially at home.

Socioeconomic factors. Children from low-income backgrounds are at greater risk of becoming obese. Poverty and obesity often go hand in hand because low-income parents may lack the time and resources to make healthy eating and exercise a family priority.
ComplicationsObese children can develop serious health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease—often carrying these conditions into an obese adulthood.

Overweight children are at higher risk of developing:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
- High blood pressure
- Asthma and other respiratory problems
- Sleep disorders
- Liver disease
- Early puberty
- Eating disorders
- Skin infections

The social and emotional fallout also can hurt your child. Being overweight can cause:

Low self-esteem and bullying. Children often tease or bully overweight kids, who suffer a loss of self-esteem and an increased risk of depression as a result.

Behavior and learning problems. Overweight children tend to have more anxiety and poorer social skills than normal-weight children have. At one extreme, these problems may lead to acting out and disrupting the classroom. At the other, they may cause social withdrawal. Stress and anxiety also interfere with learning.

Depression. Social isolation and low self-esteem create overwhelming feelings of hopelessness in some overweight children. When children lose hope that their lives will improve, they're well on the way to depression. A depressed child may lose interest in normal activities, sleep more than usual, or cry a lot. Some depressed children hide their sadness and appear emotionally flat instead. Either way, depression is as serious in children as in adults.

Ideas for Treatment and PreventionLife is tough enough, but being a kid and overweight can be crushing. The best solution for you, your child, and your whole family is creating a Bios Life Slim habit before meals, eating healthier (and less) foods, and increasing physical activity—but it’s tough for your child to do it alone.

Success depends largely on your commitment to helping your child make important changes. For example, parents are the ones who buy the food, cook the food and decide when and where the food is eaten. Even small changes can make a big difference in your child's health.

A recent study showed that weight loss is socially contagious. When one person, perhaps a parent, sheds pounds, it has a ripple effect and increases the chances that children, spouse, siblings, and colleagues will slim down.