Child Obesity

Abstract

Obesity in children is a condition where surplus body fat harmfully affects children health. Body fat within an individual is difficult to determine. Diagnosis of this disease is based on Body Mass Index (BMI). The presence of obesity amongst children has increased, which has now been recognized by different health organizations across the world as a serious threat. This paper aims to discuss the dynamics of child obesity, in terms of, how it is caused, what is child obesity, the related health risks involved and preventive measures. The article further goes on to discuss the importance of physical exercise and its helpfulness in prevention and curtailment of obesity.

Table of Content

Abstract2

Child Obesity4

Introduction4

Discussion5

What is Child Obesity?5

What causes Child Obesity?5

How to decrease Child Obesity?6

How do you figure out what weight is healthy for your child?6

How common is obesity?7

How fast can physical activity help weight loss?7

What are some health risks overweight children faces?8

Conclusion8

References9

Child Obesity

Introduction

In developing children, in whom mass and height are both altering, explaining obesity becomes inherently more complex. In practice there are no universally recognized standards of child obesity. There has been ever increasing advocacy in the concept of Body Mass Index (BMI) as a measure to assess obesity in individuals (Barlow & Dietz, 1998). BMI varies considerably by age and sex during childhood. This complicates issues on how to set benchmarks. BMI is adjusted based on age and gender against a specific standard. In the United States CDC Revised Growth Reference is used for measuring obesity (Barlow & Dietz, 1998). Globally, several other standards are in practice, including the one based on a pooled international sample (Cole et.al, 2000), are also in use.

Discussion

What is Child Obesity?

Obesity is a condition in where excess body fat accumulates in the body to an extent that becomes harmful to health of an individual. Diverse effects on health are witnessed leading to reduction in life expectancy and increased health problems. Obesity enhances the probability of various diseases, mainly heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer and other epidemic diseases. The problem in children becomes much complex and to a certain extent more serious psychologically. Psychological implications, such as the impressions created in the mind of obese children of the fact that they are physically unfit to compete with other children. The rising dominance of obesity in children and its adverse health implications is being acknowledged as a serious public health apprehension.

What causes Child Obesity? Various causes of obesity have been reported, yet it is most generally caused by a mixture of excessive food energy consumption, lack of physical exercise, and genetics. Some cases have been reported where obesity is caused by genes, endocrine disorders and after effects of medications. Evidence has also proved that some people become fat due to slow metabolism.

Genetic disorders are sometimes more important in cases of child obesity. This represents the fact that if, one or both parents of the child are obese, than it is more than likely that the child will be ...