Child Obesity Facts

A rising issue to the modern world has been the increase in obesity among children and adolescents. For children of age group between 2 to 5 years, adolescents between 12 and 19, the rate of obesity has doubled since the 1970s. For children between the age groups of 6 and 11, the obesity rate has tripled. Almost one third of all children in recent years are at risk for becoming overweight. Sixteen percent of these children already are. When it comes to the differentiation between boys and girls, the rates are similar. The rates have even got increased since the 1960s for both sexes. In the recent years of the previous century, over 29% of all boys were at risk for becoming overweight, while 27% of all girls struggled with the same problem.

Some groups of children are of course more affected by this phenomenon than others. Among the children of boys, those who are of Mexican American descent tend to have a greater problem with obesity, with over 42% of boys in this group being affected by the problem. Among young girls it has been seen that the obesity problem is more serious for those of African descent. In determining the intensity of obesity, people use the BMI or Body Mass Index which is a chart that uses a ratio of weight to height, dividing the person's weight in kilograms by the square of their body's height in meters. For children between the age group of 2 and 20, the BMI ratio is calculated on a special chart based on their age and sex. One cannot consider obesity in the same terms when it deals with children as it relates to adults.

Some health researchers avoid the term “obesity" altogether in an effort to avoid stigmatizing individuals. Others health experts use the term “childhood obesity" to speak of a general phenomenon. Yet obesity problem is certainly a serious problem among young people, no matter what terminology one choose to employ. For adult people on the BMI scale, they are considered overweight if they have a rating between 25 and 29.9 kg per square meter of their body. Obesity is defined as having a BMI ratio of an even higher rate. Severe obesity problem defines those individuals with a rate that exceeds 40. People need to keep the fact in mind that “obesity" and “overweight" are not mutually exclusive terms, in that individuals struggling with obesity are also overweight.

People who are overweight and/or obese are at normally major risk for contacting severe chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and hypertension. For children who are greatly afflicted with severe body weight problems, they can contact gall bladder disease, liver disease, sleep apnea, and may run the risk of high cholesterol. Children with obesity are also at risk for contacting asthma. Overweight boys commonly tend to have a higher risk than overweight girls. The effect of breathing disorder or asthma is greater in children who are non-allergic. A recent study on obesity related asthma concluded that children who were obese suffered a lot more than non-obese asthmatic children. Obese children with asthma problem commonly tend to wheeze more, require more medication, and end up having to make more visits to the emergency room.

• Janny Raines
• 25/02/2009, 2:59 PM
• 0 Comments