Obesity in children goes beyond extra kilograms and low self-esteem: it also brings other health problems, such as diabetes and gastrointestinal or cardiovascular diseases. Fortunately, there are solutions.
Most parents tend to overlook a child’s extra weight, reasoning that it will disappear as the child grows. The reality is quite different: childhood obesity is a medical problem that does not resolve on its own. It can affect the functioning of a child’s body for a long time and lead to other conditions. In most cases, an overweight child becomes an obese adult with an increased risk of complications. These are the consequences of childhood obesity that deserve attention.
Treatment of childhood obesity
Treatment should take place in a clinical setting after a thorough and appropriate assessment.
A medical examination and blood tests can reveal whether there is a medical cause. Eating habits are corrected slowly and in small steps. Weight-management programmes, nutritional advice and other individual measures for a child with obesity should be prescribed by a paediatrician, a family doctor, a dietitian or other medical staff with specialist knowledge.
Treatment in Switzerland for children with obesity involves an individual approach to each child and the development of a personal treatment and nutrition plan.
What are some of the causes of excess weight in children?
- Diet.
Systematic overfeeding in early childhood leads to excess weight, which at first usually pleases parents, as they see it as a sign of “robust health”.
- Excessive consumption of sweets, pasta and foods rich in animal fats.
Excessive sugar intake raises blood glucose levels and increases the release of the hormone insulin. Fat synthesis increases, and so do blood fat levels. It has been shown that infants eat up to 25% more food when sugar is added to it. A habit and lasting preference for sweet food develops, laying the ground for systematic overeating.
A high fat intake is also a precondition for malnutrition and obesity in children. Fats provide energy, but they make the child feel full and lead them to refuse vegetables, cereals and other foods that supply more vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre, which protect against chronic diseases later in life.
- Excessive consumption of table salt.
Eating salty food leads to sodium and water retention in the tissues and predisposes the body to a slower metabolism. It also raises creatinine and blood pressure in later life.
- Lack of sufficient physical activity.
The change in children’s lifestyle is a cause for concern. They spend most of their time in front of the television, videos and computers. Active games, walks and sport are missing. Pupils increasingly see no need to attend physical education lessons.
- Imitation and the acquisition of unhealthy habits.
Television advertising for high-calorie, sugar-rich “magic” desserts and drinks has an enormous influence on the development of unhealthy eating habits in children.
What are the health consequences?
Childhood obesity has negative psychosocial consequences, such as reduced self-esteem and self-worth, and a lack of acceptance by peers. Children with obesity are also at increased risk in adulthood of:
- disability,
- cardiovascular diseases,
- endocrine disorders, such as insulin resistance, type II diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome,
- musculoskeletal health problems, including osteoarthritis, back pain, scoliosis and flat feet,
- lipid metabolism disorders: raised triglycerides, LDL and total cholesterol,
- certain types of cancer,
- bronchial asthma,
- non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The risk of developing these diseases rises as BMI increases.
How can childhood obesity be prevented?
To prevent childhood obesity, and to prevent a child from becoming an overweight adult, parents are responsible for helping their children receive sufficient and healthy nutrition.
Eating habits should begin to form in the womb, continue through the first years of life and be maintained throughout the child’s growth. With the correct introduction of complementary foods at 6 months, the child should be offered, and should accept, a varied and adequate range of nutritious foods over the years, with encouragement to be physically active. These are the main ways to prevent childhood obesity:
- from the outset, choose nourishing foods over those with no nutritional value, such as sugar;
- encourage physical exercise from an early age, in an enjoyable form;
- encourage healthy habits at the table, free from electronic devices;
- respect the child’s feeling of fullness;
- encourage longer mealtimes;
- limit drinks during meals, especially those with no nutritional value;
- limit foods such as fried food, high-calorie drinks, processed foods and the like.
Likewise, growth-monitoring consultations and routine check-ups help to prevent childhood obesity as well as various other diseases. With care beginning in the prenatal period, the child’s development should be monitored.
From then on, routine consultations should be part of children’s lives every year. It is during these consultations that paediatricians can monitor the child’s BMI and order the tests needed to detect disorders and diseases such as childhood obesity, so as to support the right diagnosis and treatment.
