Is your child overweight?

Is your child overweight?

Your child may be healthy and growing but is he/she excessively fat? Here’s how to find out whether your kid is turning obese and ways to tackle the problem

    While the link between cardiac diseases and obesity is known in adults, did you know that children with central obesity also show signs of cardiac dysfunction in their childhood itself ? A study recently conducted by two doctors found a link between obesity among children and excessive fat above the heart, excessive fat in abdominal cavity and a pre-diabetic condition called insulin resistance among them.
    Says consultant endocrinologist Dr Dheeraj Kapoor, “With the addiction to fast foods and lack of exercise, children in India are prone to putting on weight at a very early stage in life. Due to the sedentary lifestyle in our homes — children too adopt the same and become prone to diseases associated with obesity like Type 2 diabetes, heart problems and arthritis. To ensure that your child stays healthy and fit, make sure your kid is exercising and following a healthy meal practice.”
    According to survey reports, up to one out of every five children in the US is either obese or overweight. This is not just restricted to the Western world. Gradually, children in India are becoming obese. According to city doctors, by the time a child is eight-yearold, he or she is already far into the overweight category, making treatment more difficult. Blame it on the kind of lifestyle that people in our country live or junk foods, lack of exercise — the reason is not just one. Often, parents who are overweight or obese have been found to pass on this ‘disease’ to their kids.
    Overweight children have a high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults, which might place them at a higher risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes or have a cardiac arrest at a later stage. Apart from this, overweight children are also prone to develop low self-esteem, stress and depression.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR CHILD IS OVERWEIGHT?
    If you think that your child has a tendency to put on weight or has been putting on lately, visit your doctor. The doctor will evaluate your child’s weight and height and will compute his BMI (Body Mass Index). If the BMI is high in your child compared to his height, age and growth patterns — the doctor will suggest diet changes or weight loss programs. Also, remember that it is difficult to assess obesity in children since they can grow in unpredictable spurts.
PARENT’S ROLE
    If your child is overweight, don’t scorn him to exercise always, eat less and only healthy foods. Going too strict may dampen his or her spirits. Instead, let your child know that you shall always support. Remember that children’s feelings are always based on their parents’ feelings about them. It is crucial to talk to your child about his or her weight, while also allowing them to share their concerns with you.
    Batriatric surgeon Dr Prashant Rao feels that childhood obesity is not just a common phenomenon in the US but in India as well. Says he, “15% percent of children in the country are considered overweight or obese. Treating this problem is important because children who enter their teens usually live 10-15 years less than their counterparts who are not obese. Dietary modification along with ample amount of exercise will ensure that your child loses weight faster.”
    Instead of putting your child on strict diet or severe exercise routine, focus on gradually changing your family’s physical activity and eating habits. By involving your family to stay healthy, everyone is taught about eating nutritious food and your child will also not feel singled out.
There are a number of nutrition camps in the city where you can take your child to. Such camps emphasise on developing good eating habits that helps fight obesity. The objective of such camps is to organise interactive sessions with nutrition experts and your kids, teach them how to identify and categorise
healthy food and also prepare a wholesome meal plan for your little one.
CAUSE OF OBESITY IN CHILDREN The cause of obesity in children could be due to a variety of factors. Some of the most common ones are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating habits or a combination of all these. Apart from this, rare conditions like a hormonal imbalance can also lead a child to put on weight.
    If weight problems are prevalent in some families, it could also be a trigger. Thus, it is extremely crucial to not ignore if you see that your child has been putting on weight. These days, many children spend a lot of time being inactive. From playing video games to watching TV for hours and being stuck to their computers, with the increase in the number of inactive hours, your child is at a high risk of putting on excess weight.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDHOOD OBESITY Children who are obese or overweight are at a higher risk of a number of health problems like — high cholesterol, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, bone problems, early cardiac disease and various skin infections.