Obesity in Children is a Global Epidemic

health

Obesity in Children is a Global Epidemic

By Alpro Pharmacy

February 3, 2023

Childhood obesity is a global epidemic.

The prevalence of childhood obesity is also alarming in Malaysia with 5.6% among children under the age of five, and 29.8% of children aged 5 to 17 years being overweight (15.0%) or obese (14.8%) as reported in 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey. Many parents think that it doesn’t matter if their children grow fatter as they are in the stage of growing their bodies, and but it is not the case. There are studies show that the possibility for an overweight or obese children of becoming obese when they grow up is 50% while for obese teenagers is about 67%.

Obesity is a non-communicable disease that not only affects children’s short-term physical and mental health, but it will also increase the risk of developing many chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, fatty liver, cancer and many more. There are actually a lot of factors that contributing to childhood obesity such as genetics, unhealthy food choices, family eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, sleep behaviour, and other environmental factors. Among all the contributing factors, some are actually modifiable. Let me share some of the tips on prevention and management of childhood obesity problem.

In childhood obesity prevention and management, parents or care takers play a very important role to determine the success of the weight management. Parents can set some small goals with the children and rewards when they achieve the goals in order to keep them motivating. However, the choice of rewards should not be a food item.

Some of the examples of small goal based on “5210” concept:

(1) 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day

Fruit and vegetables are rich in many nutrients especially vitamins, minerals and fiber. Parents can introduce different types of fruits and vegetables to their children. Make them to achieve at least half of their plate full of fruits and vegetables every day. As the fiber from fruits and vegetables can make them feel full so they will eat lesser.

(2) Limit recreational screen time to 2 hours or less per day

One of the major culprit of children obesity is inactivity. Theoretically, children who don’t exercise are more likely to become overweight or obese because they don’t use up the calories that they have taken in. Parents need to limit their children leisure time spent on those sedentary activities, such as playing their phone, watching movies and so on.

(3) At least 1 hour of active play

As the child is still growing, we shouldn’t restrict too much on their calories intake but parents should switch their focus to encourage their child to stay active to burn as much as the calories to help them to achieve healthy BMI. Parents can choose activities that involve exercise for family outings such as family hike, playground, swimming, skating and so forth.

(4) No sugar sweetened beverages. No fast food, fried food and high-calorie snacks

Sugar sweetened beverages such as milk tea, soda, fruit drinks, sports drinks etc. doesn’t bring any health benefits to the children. They only add on extra calories intake for the children. Replace the intake for sugary drinks with plain water. Same goes to fast food, fried food and high-calorie snacks. They also contribute to extra calories and they are generally high fat, sodium and sugar.

Apart from practicing healthy eating behaviours and increase the kid’s physical activity level, practicing healthy sleep hygiene is also extremely important. Lack of sleep may lead to hormonal imbalances in the body, making them tends to overeat. The children will also reduce in their physical activity levels as they feel tired due to not enough sleep. All of these reasons will contribute to childhood obesity. National Sleep Foundation 2015 recommends that toddlers (1-2 years) should achieve 11- 14 hours sleep; preschool children (3 -5 years) should achieve 10- 13 hours sleep; school-age children (6-13 years) should achieve 9- 11 hours sleep; teenagers (14-17 years) should achieve 8- 10 hours sleep;

By knowing the tips to manage childhood obesity is not enough as the process of fighting obesity requires a lot of patience and determination. Parents should always be the good role models of their child. The most important thing, do it slow and make it a consistent change in achieving the healthy lifestyle.

A healthy lifestyle is definitely essential for children’s development. Parents can start giving them a consistent breakfast to fulfil the needed nutrition in their daily life.

⭐ Kickstart their day with a simple and delicious breakfast 🤤