What is childhood obesity?

This is a condition where children in the age group 2 to 19 are affected by overweight. Such children are prone to several risks like depression, cardiovascular diseases, early puberty, early menstruation, accumulation of fat in the liver, diseases connected with gall bladder, etc.

How obesity is decided?

Whether a child or any person for that matter, is obese or not is decided by using the Body Mass Index formula (BMI). The BMI is calculated based on the weight and height of the person and on percentile basis.

Causes:

There are many causes for obesity among children. Some of the common causes are consuming sugar in excess of body’s requirement, eating more than requirement, excess use of prepared food, snacks between meals, not taking home food while at school, eating habits like skipping breakfast but thereafter taking food rich in cholesterol, etc.

Other causes for obesity are lack of physical exercises (because many children spend a lot of time watching television), lesser physical exercises in school, poor sleeping habits, etc. These are some of the reasons which influence accumulation of fat in the body of the child. In many cases the obesity could be hereditary in nature.

Diagnosis:

Obese children must be taken to the physician to ascertain the cause of obesity. The physician may recommend a thyroid test to rule out the possibility of hypothyroidism.

This is because hypothyroidism is one of the causes of obesity. Depending on the pathological report, the physician may suggest tests for possible diabetes. Thereafter the cause for obesity will also be investigated.

What is the treatment for childhood obesity?

Follow the diet as prescribed by the dietician. In case of children, normally drugs for losing weight or surgeries for removing excess fat are not recommended.

In addition to diet, the physician may prescribe some medicine to regulate the blood sugar (in case the child is diabetic). Normally, obese children will have behavioral problems. In such a case, the physician may refer the child for psychotherapy.

Prevention is better than cure:

The role of parents is very important in this regard. The child must not be loaded with high calorie food or with junk food. He must be encouraged to undergo physical exercises like participation in sports like base ball, running, walking, cycling, etc.

He must be encouraged to attend gym, Yoga, etc. Encourage him to eat with the family together, restrict visit to hotels, etc. Encourage the child to eat fresh vegetables and fruits instead of meat.  Send home made food for lunch in the school.