These days childhood obesity has become a serious issue, obesity takes place when the weight of a child is disproportionate to his age and height. Overeating, genetic factors, sedentary lifestyle, consumption of fast food, hormonal changes, inadequacy of sleep, underlying medical condition and addiction of video games and TV are some of leading risk factors of childhood obesity. However the effects of childhood obesity are listed below:

EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Physical effects:-

Obesity not only increases the risk of preventable but also chronic health problems among children. Further, it leads to high cholesterol and high blood pressure which are said to be the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, type 2 diabetes is also occurring among obese child. The surprising thing about type-2 diabetes is that, previously older people are more prone to this disease and now obese children are also suffering from this disease. The problem associated with highly obese children takes lot of time to recover and the diseases are very serious as well. Apart from these, obesity at young age can contribute to orthopedic complications such as abnormal bone growth, joint pain, sleep apnea, anorexia nervosa and early sexual maturity. Highly obese children experience lack of stamina as well.

Psychological effects:-

Obesity is considered to be one of the psychological as well as physical problems. The commonly observed psychological problem of obesity includes lower self esteem, high level of depression, social discrimination. However, all these psychological problems can make the child helpless and can lead him to alcohol and other substance abuse and further can lead to life threatening afflictions. Most of these problems starts gradually and shows lots of worst impact on the life of obese people.

TIPS TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY

There are possibilities that the issue of childhood obesity may increased in next few years as well. However the tips mentioned below will definitely help you to get rid of this serious condition:

1.    Always give preference to right healthy foods:-

Parents should provide their child a healthy balanced diet but they should not stop children entirely from eating junk food. It means parents should be sensitive towards their kids as well. It would be better if the parents could suggest the importance of eating healthy foods for every individual instead of eating junk foods. It would be better if parents are suggesting the importance of eating healthy foods for every individual instead of eating junk foods. It is the duty of every parent to know their child about the importance healthy food supplements like fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, cereals in order to enhance the metabolism and to strengthen immune system. Accordingly parents should also follow the method of food proportion. It means, they should give small meals to kids at regular intervals. Diet containing low fat, low calorie and low sugar should be provided to the children. Children should be promoted to drink lot of natural fluids including fruits and vegetable juice. Children should make certain limit over their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, sugar, sodium and saturated fats.

2.    Avoid sedentary lifestyle:-

Most children’s these days have sedentary lifestyle as children are spending lots of time in indoor games such as play stations, mobiles and computers. Sitting for prolonged period without any physical activity makes children obese. Therefore it is the responsibility of every parent that they should teach them about the importance of fitness. They should make proper exercise program for their children and accordingly should be executed by kids. It is noticed that exercise is not alone important strategy to achieve the goal. Along with exercise, child should be aware about fitness benefits. Parents should allow their child to participate in physical activities such as brisk walking, playing tag, jumping rope, swimming, dancing, playing scooter, camping, trekking, bicycling, baseball, basketball and so on. Since these all games require lots of physical exercise and which helps to reduce excess weight and provides other host of benefits.

3.    Make certain limit on watching television:-

These days most of the kids spend lots of their time sitting in front of idiot box that is television. In olden days, children were used to spend around whole day in outdoor games. But, today overall situation has changed; children spend around 5-6 hours daily in watching television. In fact this generation is television centric and experiences the world through idiot box. According to research, children should not watch TV more than two hours.

4.    Take medical support as well:-

If you want your child not affected with obesity then take medical help if possible. Obesity depends on the BMI of your children. So, you need to take care of BMI of your kids. Therefore always get calculated height-weight ratio and weight regularly and maintain health chart in order to overcome obesity. In addition, for better desire results you can ask pediatrician about the ideal weight depending on the age, sex and height for your child. You can overcome the problem of obesity by taking psychiatrist consultation to know the reason of your child obesity its causes and concerns. In this way, you can also motivate your child and may find solution of your child’s obesity.

5.    Provide enough family support:-

Highly obese children face different various problems at a psychological level. Usually they become soft targeted towards junk food and many other foods as well. They grow up by facing a social stigma which affects their entire academic and social skills along with self-esteem. As a result, the families of such kind of obese children should provide special attention, comfort and support to their kids as much as possible. In fact, parents need to continuously motivate them and should give lots of love to get back their self-esteem.

6.    Increase awareness about the benefits of physical activity among children:-

Physical activities are essential as they not only maintain your child healthy and fit but also reduce excess weight. Apart from these, they are vital for strengthening bones, decreasing blood pressure, reducing stress and anxiety, and boosting self esteem.