OBESITY IN CHILDREN

Obesity in Children

Obesity in Children

The policy is 'every child matters”

Obesity is a public health problem and is one of the epidemic diseases in developed countries, in recent years by imitation and consumption of foods high in energy have increased in frequency in Mexico. In developing countries most affected is the middle class. It should go away the idea or belief that "fat" in children is healthy, with age or reduced weight. To prevent obesity is desirable that the first months of life children acquire good eating habits. It is common to think that will be temporary and only one expression of the growth and development of the individual, unfortunately, this view is not only accepted by most people, but some doctors who do not give due importance when detected (Serdula, 1993, 21).

The age of onset in 50 percent of cases within two years, the rest is observed in periods of higher growth, particularly in puberty and adolescence. In medical practice or private institution, it is becoming more common in children and adolescents face, which generally come from middle and upper class. Obesity is associated with 300 000 deaths per year. Approximately 80 percent of obese adolescents will remain so for the rest of his life, less than five percent of adults who lose weight are able to maintain your ideal weight for five years after treatment and six per cent recovered weight lost in the first six to twelve months. Obesity among other factors contributing to increased mortality from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, skeletal abnormalities, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and psychosocial maladjustment among the most important before (Reilly, 2003, 12).

Often use the terms obesity and overweight as synonyms, but are not. Obesity is a metabolic disorder that leads to excessive accumulation of energy as body fat in relation to the expected value according to sex, size and age. Overweight denotes a higher body weight in relation to the expected value according to sex size and age. In obese children the definition of obesity can not always be accurate, because many times they also observed an increase in fat free mass. The exact criterion for the diagnosis of obesity is the determination of the percentage of fat in the body. In current clinical practice, the most widely used index for the diagnosis of obesity is body mass index (BMI). The main limitation of BMI is the failure to distinguish between fat mass and fat-free mass. In addition, it has been observed that many children who have a BMI within normal limits according to Cole et al 8 have values of fat mass, determined by air displacement plethysmography (BOD-POD system), at rates of obesity. The IMC also presents another set of limitations such as: the need to find the ideal reference population, secular changes that it can get, with the consequent need to update the reference curves, and finally to identify the limits of court to categorize obesity and overweight.It has been noted that the treatment can have side effects: for ...