ALL ABOUT CHILDREN OBESITY

All about children and obesity.
Have you heard of the term obesity or obese? 

Probably. Obesity (o-bee-see-tee) is the state of being seriously overweight (overweight is when you have too much body fat) - to a degree that affects your health.

Obesity in childhood is linked to many health complications. If a child is obese, and has obese parents, there is a high likelihood that the child will be obese as an adult. This is so because kids tend to share eating lifestyle habits with parents. Note that this is not always the case.

If more than 25% of a person's total body weight is fat, then he is classified as being obese. For a woman it is more than 32% because women have a different body shape.

How do you know if you are obese?

Kids are checked against the average height and weight for kids of their age. So if a kid's weight is a lot more than the average for their height, it could be that the child is obese.

Another check is the BMI check. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).

Also there is the 'skin fold' or 'pinch' test. A health professional can measure the thickness of flesh over the triceps muscle (the underside of the arm above the elbow) and over the back of the body. It is best if a doctor or other health professional does this, as they know how to do it.

It is worrying that many parents with overweight kids do not consider them as overweight. A National Opinion Poll in UK involving over 1,000 parents of children aged four to seven showed that only 14% of those with an obese child considered that their child was overweight.

''Did you know... that a healthy ten-year old's ribs should be clearly visible? Many parents would consider that such a child was quite underweight.”
Picked from BBC, by Professor Mary Rudolf, Obesity expert

Obesity is caused by 3 simple factors:

Unhealthy diet (high fat diet)
The first main cause of child obesity is unhealthy diet (too rich in sugar and fats and not enough fibre and carbohydrate). These are usually the kinds that people buy from fast food shops. They include buttery foods, chese, and lots of oils and salt. Some parents also cook foods like cake, bacon burgers, potato fries, ice-creams an double chese pizzas. Sometimes eating too much can also make you fat even if it's healthy food.

Lack of physical activity and exercise
Child obesity can also result from sedentary lifestyles and lack of exercise. This include sitting at one place all the time, and not making any attempt to move around or excercise. e.g. sitting around a lot, or watching TV for long hours of the day. If this habbit is not matched with regular exercise to burn off the fat, it can result in obesity over time.

Medical condition or medications
In many other cases, it could be a medical problem of not being able to control hunger, or the effect of some medicines that you take.

If this is what seems to be the problem for you or a friend, it is most important to speak to your doctor immediately. Your doctor can always advice on what you can do.

What are the dangers of becoming overweight?

Health Problems: There are many health problems which can be
caused by obesity. These include ...

Coronary Heart Disease CHD
It is the most common type of heart disease. CHD occurs when the coronary arteries, that supply blood to the heart muscle, become hardened and narrowed due to the plaque buildup, reducing the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart. CHD can weaken the heart muscle and lead to heart failure.
More on Heart Disease here 

Type 2 Diabetes
This is associated with insulin resistance. Insulin is an important hormone that delivers glucose (sugar) to our cells.
When a person is overweight, the cells in the body become less sensitive to the insulin that is released from the pancreas. If a person has more fat cells than muscle cells, then the insulin becomes less effective overall, and glucose remains circulating in the blood instead of being taken in to the cells to be used as energy.

Others include:

Benign Intracranial Hypertension (BIH is a disease of the brain)

Hypoventilation (leading to drowsiness during the day, snoring and even heart failure)

Damage to weight-bearing joints (such as your knees)

Others include gall bladder disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, high blood pressure and high levels of blood fats.

Social Problems
As young people, there are even more problems you could face at school. People will call you names,(name calling) and leave you out of fun activities. Some people may even laugh and tease you, and no one would like to be your friend. This can make you very sad and lead to low self-esteem. You may also be bullied at school.

Understanding ‘Fat’
Not all 'fat' is bad. It all depends of the sources and the quantities you consume.

Fats or lipids (in food terms), are nutrients in food that your body uses to build nerve tissue (like the brain) and hormones.

Young children, especially, need a certain amount of fat in their diets to help the brain and nervous system develop correctly. That is why toddlers need to drink whole milk, which has more fat, whereas older kids can drink low-fat or skim milk.

Fat also plays an key role in membrane structure. It cushions and protects our internal organs. Your body also uses fat as fuel. It is a concentrated source of energy. If fats that you've eaten aren't burned as energy, they are stored in your body for future use.

This means if you don’t use it by doing active things and exercising, they stay in your body, and this is where problems can start.

Types of fat
There are 3 main types of Fat.

Unsaturated Fats.
This kind is found naturally in plant foods and fish. They are good for the body and the heart. Examples include Vegetable oils, Tuna, Salmon, Avocados, Olive, Peanu and Canola oils

Saturated Fats. 
They are found in meat and other animal products, such as butter, shortening, lard, cheese, and milk (except skim or nonfat), palm and coconut oils. Saturated fat is generally solid at room temperature. 

It's also the white fat you can see on red meat and underneath poultry skin. Eating too much saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

Trans Fats.
This is found in margarine (especially the sticks), commercial snack foods and baked foods, and some commercially fried foods. They are also know as hydrogenated unsaturated fats. Eating too much trans fats can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

Tips on how to reduce the amount of fat in your diet.

Want a snack? Try fresh fruit, dried fruit and cereal-based products instead of cakes and biscuits.

Trim any visible fat off meat and poultry during cooking

Don't fry it! Poach, steam, grill or bake it.

Swap whole milk for semi-skimmed or skimmed

If you use lard, butter or hard margarine, switch to vegetable oil and low-fat spreads

Diet foods, Low-fat foods &
Reduced fat/Lite Foods

Many people look at labels on a product to see the calories count before they buy them to eat. This is a great practice but can be very deceptive. Many cans and containers of food, like ice-cream, may write the calories count per servings. Do you know what 'Per Serving' means? Let us explain. A container of ice-cream with 3 servings written on it means that, it can serve 3 people.
Let us look at a detailed example:

Take a box containing fried potato chips. On the label, they may write '2 Servings' and 40 calories per servings. However, it is very easy for a hungry young boy to eat all 2 servings. This means if a young person eats all two servings, that is 80 calories. This means that the portions we eat make a huge difference, even if it is less fat food!

Have you heard of Fat-Free, Reduced or Lite foods and Low fatfoods? There are terms usually found on food labels.
Many countries have very strict rules on when a food can be called low-fat, Reduced/Lite or fat-free.

Fat-free food:
This label is used when the food has 0.5grams of fat per serving. Again, this means if you eat 4 servings, you would have eaten 2.0 grams of fat!

Low-fat food:
This label is used for food with less than 3grams of fat per serving

Lite / Reduced fat: 
This label is usually used on foods that have 1/2 or 1/3 less fat than the original version of that food. Take a container of chocolate ice-cream for example. The original may be 600 calories. If a version is made with 400 or 300 calories, it can be called Lite Icecream.

How to avoid becoming overweight and staying healthy.

Not all overweight toddlers grow up to become obese adults. There are many things that can keep you from becoming over-weight, and being healthy, fit and happy.

Speak to your doctor about your weight.
First of all, talk to your doctor and get help from a dietician. A dietician guides people on healthy eating habits and draw up a personalised food plan that meets the patient’s dietary restrictions, occupational constraints, fitness and stress levels.


Start eating healthy foods.
Don’t be in a rush to begin an aggressive diet. Growing bodies need a variety of foods to develop well. Instead, ask your mum to make changes to healthy eating. When hungry, grab some fresh fruit and vegetables first, rather than fatty food and snacks. Try not to snack when sitting around.

Do more exercise.
Get involved in sport or exercise everyday. Join in activities at school or after school, so that you have an interest and can spend more time with other kids having fun. Why not try joining a dance class or a cheer fan club?

Get enough sleep.
Get a good night's sleep. Don't eat too late. Get up early and keep busy all day so that you are ready to sleep at night.

Be encouraged and determined.
Be determined to change and make the most of yourself. Every person has one body so try to look after yours and feel good about it. Be conscious of your body and know your limits especially when there is food around.

What you should eat to avoid obesity.

This is s great guide to what you should be eating.

Eat a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; choose healthy fats, like olive and canola oil. Eat very little or less red meat and unhealthy fats, like saturated and trans fats..

Go for water. It's the best. Otherwise drink other healthy beverages. Limit sugary drinks (like cola and fizzy drinks) and salt.

The brighter the colours of fresh vegetables and fruits, the better.


The Food Plate

Pay attention to plate sizes. Always make sure you have a bit wholegrain, healthy protein, fruits and vegetables everyday whiles staying far away from the fatty foods mentioned the previous pages. You guide should look like the plate below:

Wholegrains: These include brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and whole-grain pasta. Limit refined grains (like white rice and white bread)

Veggies: The more vegetables and the greater the variety, the better. Stay away from potato chips (French fries)
Healthy protein: Choose poultry, fish, beans and nuts. Limit red meat, avoid bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats.
Fruits: Eat plenty of fruits of all colours.
Drink: Drink water, tea or coffee (with no or very little sugar). Limit dairy/milk (1-2 servings/day) and juice (1 small glass a day). Avoid Sugary drinks.
Oils: Use healthy oils (like olive and canola oil) for cooking, on salad and at the table. Try to avoid butter, even if it tastes good. Avoid trans fat.

Helping Your Overweight or Obese Friend
If your friend has a problem with weight,
then you can be a good friend by:

Commenting on the things that she or he is good at.

Telling the teacher if your friend is being teased or called unkind names - this is harassment and a type of bullying that no one should have to suffer.

Not nagging him / her about it.

Eating good stuff yourself and encouraging them to do the same

Playing with him / her in an active way.

Doing something active together after school, like walking the dog or bike riding, rather than watching TV or playing video games 

Getting her to join in sports lessons by encouragement.

Helping him / her to practice sports skills.

Local councils and schools can help!

Here are some good things that some communities and schools are doing:

Some councils are banning new takeaways from opening within 400 yards of any school, youth club or park, in an attempt to tackle the growing toll of obesity, strokes and heart disease.

Some schools check children’s lunch boxes to award marks for healthy eating. Healthy lunches and snacks like vegetables, carbohydrates and fruits and snacks score high points. Bad meals like fried chicken, chips, fries, cheesy and sugar/fizzy drinks score nothing.

Some schools ensure that each child is involved with a weekly sports activity.

Can you think of some cool ways that your community and school can help fight obesity?

Some Myths and Truths about obesity

Myth: Childhood obesity is genetic, so there’s nothing you can do about it.
Truth: While a person’s genes do influence weight, they are only one small part of the equation. Although some children are more prone to gaining weight than others, that doesn’t mean they’re destined for weight problems. Most kids can maintain a healthy weight if they eat right and exercise.

Myth: It’s just baby fat. Children will shed it off as they grow.

Truth: Childhood obesity doesn’t always lead to obesity in adulthood, but it does raise the risks dramatically. The majority of children who are overweight at any time during the preschool or elementary school are still overweight as they enter their teens. Most kids do not outgrow the problem.

Myth: Children who are obese or overweight should be put on a diet.
Truth: Unless directed by your child’s doctor otherwise, the treatment for childhood obesity is not weight loss. The goal should be to slow or stop weight gain, allowing your child to grow into his or her ideal weight.

Conclusion
There are many people who claim there are medicines that can make you thin. Others claim there foods that are diet foods.
Always remember that the greatest solution to controlling obesity isself -motivation, eating healthy and in smaller amounts and doing lots of exercises and physical activities.

No medicine will help if your basic eating habit is not changed. Be strong and do it yourself, and let people see that you are capable of achieving great things too.

So… this is it. Ask your friends to come and learn with us on how we can control our body fats, stay healthy and help others.

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