Fighting Obesity in Children Is A Battle We Must Win

Many families today are faced with the growing concern of childhood obesity. Obesity means having too much body fat. Obesity in children is not something to take lightly. Childhood obesity is said to be the most serious challenge to the public health facing Americans today. In children aged two to five, obesity rates have doubled to more than ten percent and to more than fifteen percent for those aged twelve to fourteen. This problem is occurring in other parts of the world, even for traditionally poor countries where recent prosperity has allowed people to eat more and exercise less.

Health.

Your physician is the person to determine if your child's height and weight are in a healthy range. If weight loss is suggested and a diet necessary, let the whole family support the child by learning healthy eating habits. Purchasing junk foods for the rest of the family will only be a temptation and tell the rest of the children that unhealthy foods are really okay. Fast food restaurants are not a healthy choice for children who are overweight. When children are overweight, fast food restaurants are the last place they should be eating.

Overweight

Overweight is more prevalent in girls than boys and in older preschoolers (ages 4-5) than younger (ages 2-3). Overweight children and adolescents are also more likely to become obese as adults.

Overweight occurs oftener in girls than in boys and in the 4-5 age group than in 2-3 year olds. It is quite likely that overweight children and adolescents will become obese as adults. Overweight parents – a family’s eating patterns can have a major influence on whether children maintain a healthy weight. Overweight and obesity are such serious problems that researchers should busy themselves producing high-quality studies that clearly describe the rationale and aim of any dietary interventions and the degree of adherence to them by children and adolescents, and practitioners should report in detail on dietary interventions that seem to be working, suggests an article in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Where the parents are overweight, the family's eating habits can have a tremendous affect on whether the children keep to
a healthy weight. Although the majority of obese or overweight children have no medical complications, specific disorders can occur in the case of severe obesity and some subclinical disorders (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, etc. Even though most obese or overweight children will not develop medical complications, cases of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia have developed in the severely obese child. However, for the more severely obese child, weight loss of approximately one pound per month is recommended, especially if other medical complications related to obesity, or conditions that have been shown to be improved with weight loss are present. If you think your child is obese, take him or her to a doctor to make sure the obesity is not because of a medical problem. Nevertheless, for
a severely obese child, a weight loss of one pound per month is recommended, especially when medical complications caused by obesity are present. If you suspect that your child is obese, take him or her to your physician to make sure
that the obesity is not caused by a medical problem. " Managing obesity in kid is a long term endeavor that should give children the tools that they need to make choices that are beneficial to their lifelong health.

There is a tremendous chance of obesity continuing into adulthood, when it is not prevented or managed in childhood. It is stated that by medical professionals that for the first time ever, the life span of today's youth is expected to be shorter than their parents. But, you can and need to control the amount of access children have to unhealthy foods, making sure to have an abundance of healthy foods and snacks for you and your kids to eat. Therefore, the prevention of weight gain offers the most effective means of controlling obesity. Some medical professionals have stated, that because of obesity, the lifespan of children today will be less than their parents.

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Don M, a licensed pharmacist for 40 years, with a special interest in health and nutrition. For more interesting free articles on healthy weight-loss, visit my website.
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