OBESITY IN CHILDREN

Obesity in Children

Chapter 1

Introduction

The issue of childhood obesity has gained dramatically high momentum in the United Kingdom in the past couple of decades. More than one quarter of the British children are affected from this problem. Besides that, the problem is under diagnosed and under treated, that means figures can be higher than that. The causes of childhood obesity are many and can be diagnosed by taking into account the patient's history and physical examination. This paper discusses the rates of obesity in secondary school children in inner-city areas as apposed to children living in rural communities in England.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

Children are considered as obese with a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile. Children with a BMI over the 95th percentile are considered severely obese. For children 2 to 7 years of age, clinical weight loss is only recommended for those possessing BMI above the 95th percentile and having some medical complications such as hypertension and insulin resistance. On the contrary, weight maintenance is approved with a BMI between the 85th and 94th percentile (slightly obese) or one having BMI above the 95th percentile but not associated with any medical complications. For children over the age of 7 years, only weight maintenance is recommended for those having 85th and 94th percentile of BMI and having no medically complications. Weight loss is only recommended for those children having some medical complications or having a BMI above the 95th percentile. (Gibbons, 1998)

In England reports also differ from the developing countries mentioned, as well as the results of the Spanish study. In 2002, Dollman, Norton, and Tucker published a study comparing urban and rural children on measures of obesity. Their work involved 1,371 children between the ages of 10 and 11. While some evidence suggests that rural British adults tend to have a higher BMI than urban adults, Dollman and colleagues found that with respect to location, there was no difference in the body fatness of British children (Smith, 1999).

As this study used different methods of determining height and weight, different definitions of overweight and obese children, and different definitions of urban and rural populations, comparing their results is problematic. It is possible that alternative conclusions may be reached if these data sets were re-analyzed using actual measures of height and weight, the standard definitions of overweight and obesity proposed by (Cole et al., 2000), and uniform definitions of urban and rural locations.

A study by the county's primary care trust, claiming to be comprehensive, found obesity hotspots in both rural and urban areas. Jon Cox, epidemiologist for Norfolk PCT, said it was an unexpected result to find that deprivation is not linked to levels of obesity in children.

Based on previously anecdotal evidence researchers expected urban areas to show highest levels of obese or overweight children. A health map they drew up shows that the majority of hotspot areas actually fall within rural populations (BBC News, 2008).

This is a vitally important key to tackling the problems resulting from ...