CHILDREN AND OBESITY

There is real cause for concern with the current rise in obesity rates of children. According to recent statistics, the rate of childhood obesity has tripled for children and adolescents between the age of 6 and 19. In addition, it is estimated that a third of all children and adolescents in the United States are either already obese or at increased risk for becoming obese. Childhood obesity rates have increased substantially because of dietary and social factors. According to a 10-year study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), overweight teens in the United States consume anywhere between 700-1000 calories more than the required daily allowance. This excessive intake of calories has resulted in an average weight gain of 58 extra pounds for teenagers. Even children and teens who are not overweight consumed 110-165 calories more than was required, leading to an average weight gain of 10 pounds of extra body weight over the study period. There have been numerous recommendations made as consequence of this study in order to try and reduce teen obesity rates. These recommendations include reducing consumption of sodas, which could save 150 calories per can. Increasing healthy food consumption in place of snacking as well as eating at home will tend to decrease overall calorie intake. In terms of activity levels, it has been recommended that teens spend less time watching television and more time exercising and playing. Regular physical education classes are advised in order to help kids burn the extra calories.
Childhood obesity has resulted in a significant increase in Type 2 diabetes in kids. We used to call Type 2 diabetes “adult onset diabetes” because it occurred mostly in adults. However, pediatricians are now finding that many of their diabetic kids are type 2 diabetics as a result of being overweight, rather than the typical type 1 (juvenile onset) diabetics that they used to encounter years ago. Part of the problem with overweight kids is poor choices in diet from an early age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids between the ages of 6 months to 6 years drink less than 6 ounces of fruit juice daily. In addition, kids between the ages of 6 to 12 years should limit their intake of sweetened liquids such as sports drinks and sodas to less than 12 ounces a day.
The epidemic of childhood obesity is confounded by the fact that most parents don’t recognize that their own kids are overweight or obese. In a recent study on overweight or obese children between the ages of 6 to 11, 43% of parents thought that their kids were “about the right weight.” Another 37% of parents thought their child was “slightly overweight”, while only 13% recognized their child as being “very overweight.” For obese children in the 12-17 age group, 11% of parents thought their child was “about the right weight”, while 56% voted for “slightly overweight”, and 31% voted for “very overweight.” A small percentage of parents of these obese children thought that their kids were “slightly underweight!” These were kids who were all documented by clinical criteria to be obese! Now this result means that either parents have a distorted body image, or they don’t want to face the obvious fact that their children are overweight or obese.