Childhood obesity foundations can be so deep that if you don,t involve the experts, you may get it all wrong from the beginning

Childhood obesity foundations: Physical and mental health

So many things are happening that impacts on the health of our children negatively. Our children becoming overweight and obese is one of them. This is caused by genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these factors. In very rare cases do we have overweight being caused by medical conditions like hormonal problems? A physical exam and some blood tests can rule out the possibility of a medical condition as childhood obesity foundations or causes.

Though genetically weight gain is a problem in families, not all children with a family history of obesity will be overweight. Children whose parents are overweight may be at an increased risk of becoming overweight themselves, but this can be linked to shared family behaviors such as eating and activity habits. Therefore it is necessary that a child’s total diet and activity level play an important role in determining a child’s weight. For instance, many children spend a lot of time being inactive, the average child today spends approximately four hours each day watching television. As computers and video games become increasingly popular, the number of hours of inactivity may increase.

Childhood obesity foundations: Health effects

Overweight children, as compared to children with a healthy weight, are more likely to develop many health problems such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are associated with heart disease in adults. Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in overweight children and adolescents. Children at a healthy weight are free of these weight-related diseases and less at risk of developing these diseases in adulthood.

Mental Health Effects

The most immediate consequence of being overweight as perceived by children themselves is social discrimination, stigma, and low-self-esteem. A 2003 study asked 106 children between ages 5 to 18 to rate their quality of life based on things like their ability to walk more than one block, play sports, sleep well, get along with others and keep up in school. The study found that obese children often rated their quality of life with scores as low as those of young cancer patients on chemotherapy. The results indicated that teasing at school, difficulties playing sports, fatigue, sleep apnea and other obesity-linked problems severely affected the children’s well-being. This is facts you can’t ignore and doctor Dalal Akoury MD, and founder of AWAREmed health center can be of help.

As a Parent what can you help your child

Children will always learn from what they see in their surroundings meaning that what you do as a parent will impact either positively or negatively on your children. Therefore adopting positive lifestyle and activities is very important. You can choose to do the following:

• Schedule a thorough medical evaluation of your child by a pediatrician to consider the possibility of a physical cause. If no physical disorder is found, parents should work with their children to reduce the number of calories being eaten and to increase the child’s or adolescent’s level of physical activity.
• Emphasize healthy eating, keep fatty and sugary snacks to a minimum and keep fruits, vegetables and low-fat snacks available
• Increase their child’s physical activity, perhaps by taking a few brisk walks with your child each week
• Let your child know he or she is loved and appreciated whatever his or her weight. An overweight child probably knows better than anyone else that he or she has a weight problem. Overweight children need support, acceptance, and encouragement from their parents.
• Be a good role model for your child. If your child sees you enjoying healthy foods and physical activity, he or she is more likely to do the same now and rest of his or her life.

Childhood obesity foundations: Physical and mental health