These statistics are particularly troubling because of the vast number of short and long-term health consequences children face as a result of being overweight.
Recent research indicates that childhood obesity rates may be tied to a parent’s discipline methods. The study, conducted by the Centre for Physical Activity at Deakin University, found that the family environment was the most important factor in determining a child’s physical activity levels. Parental habits greatly impacting their children. For example, parents who allow children to have a television in the bedroom when this has been linked to a higher body mass index (BMI) are playing a role in developing unhealthy lifestyle habits for their children.
According to the study, parents who ate breakfast, exercised, or had meals as a family tended to have children who ate more fruits and vegetables and who were more physically active. Meanwhile, other factors, such as whether children lived in close proximity to schools (and were thus more likely to walk to school), also played a role in the child’s level of physical fitness.
Another study, conducted by the University College London Institute of Child Health and London School of Hygiene found that, of 2,976 parents questioned, only four thought that their child was too overweight, despite 369 of those children being officially classified as such. Almost one third of those parents underestimated where their child’s body mass index (BMI) was on the official healthy weight scales.
What Are The Dangers?
Childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term effects on health and wellbeing. Among the immediate effects:
● Obese children are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol. In one population-based sample off children between the ages of 5 and 17, 70 percent of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
● Obese adolescents are more likely to have prediabetes, a condition in which the blood glucose elves indicate a high risk for development of diabetes.
● Children and adolescents who are obese are at a greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, social and psychological problems, including stigmatization and poor self-esteem.
Among the long term health effects faced by obese youth:
● Children and adolescents who are obese are more likely to remain obese as adults, and therefore are at a greater risk for adult health problems, including heart disease, type II diabetes, stroke, several forms of cancer, and osteoarthritis, among others. According to one study, children who were obese were far more likely to remain obese as adults, even if the obesity occurred as early as age two.
● Being overweight or obese is associated with an increased risk for many types of cancer, including breast cancer, colon cancer, endometrial cancer, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, gallbladder cancer, thyroid cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
What Can Be Done About This?
Healthy lifestyle habits, including balanced diet and regular physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases. It’s most effective to teach children healthy lifestyle habits from an early age, because the dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents are influenced by a number of factors, including family habits, communities, schools, child care settings, medical care providers, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media, food and beverage industries and entertainment industries.
Schools may play a critical role in establishing a safe, supportive environment with policies and practices that support healthy behaviors. They also provide opportunities for students to learn about and practice healthy eating and physical activity behaviors that they would otherwise potentially not have an opportunity to learn about at home or in other settings. Interestingly, education may also play a factor in contributing to obesity later in life. Studies show that nearly 33 percent of adults who did not graduate from high school are obese, compared with 21.5 percent of those who graduated from college or a technical school.
One school in particular, Michigan State University, is leading a $4.7 million effort to tackle childhood obesity. The five-year project is part of a nationwide endeavor to address childhood obesity through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, authorized under the 2014 Farm Bill. Specifically, the study will look at healthy family mealtimes among low-income families - seen as a key practice in obesity prevention and the development of healthy lifestyles.
Making Breakthroughs
In 2014, BBC news published the article, “Have the Danes Cracked Childhood Obesity?” The article was a feature profile of pediatrician Jens Christian Holm, who has intruded a protocol to help children achieve successful weight loss by adjusting various elements of their lifestyles.
The program, called the Children’s Obesity Clinic’s Treatment, has been used on nearly 2000 patients and helped 70 percent of them maintain normal weight. This effort is now being rolled out to other districts in Denmark. According to Dr. Holm, one of the keys to success in managing childhood obesity is parental involvement.
“You can’t treat a child of 4 to 8 years old when their parents or legal guardians are not involved in the process. It’s totally impossible. So we say that if the child cannot drink soda, there should be no soda in the house,” he explained.
As for the reach of his research? Dr. Holm adds, “The problems I’m addressing are universal. Mothers are getting desperate all over the world. So we’re talking about a universal condition. Obesity is a chronic disease regulated by a hormone system and that has nothing to do with the culture here or in the USA. If American society - that is the mothers and the children in themselves - want to lose weight, I can help them.”