Children’s Obesity
Yorkshire Post, 17th February 2010
It’s not easy to cure obesity, especially with children. They often eat comfort food to hide from the world, when they’ve got a problem. Then they are bullied at school, so eat even more for comfort. It’s a vicious cycle. The bigger they are, the more risky it becomes for them to have serious health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or others.
The results of the weight-loss surgery can be really impressive but experts try to find out how the young patients put some much weight on.
“It’s a horrendous indictment on society that we should ever allow these children to get this fat,” says Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum.
Whereas the number of adult patients undergoing weight-loss surgery goes up from year to year, such operations in young patients are still quite uncommon.
Children’s obesity is a growing problem nowadays. As experts highlight, this doesn’t happen overnight and they wonder how it is possible that nobody – parents, doctors, nurses – pays any attention to this.
At the moment, about one in five children starting the school are overweight or obese. By the time they leave for secondary school, it changes from one in three. In the majority of cases the children live in families where physical activities don’t exist and where junk food is the main diet.
Although the problem is serious, it’s not fair to say it’s only parents’ fault. Whereas younger children depend on their parents, teenagers are much more independent and they are influenced more by the environment than by the family.
Obesity means not only serious health problems but also shorter life by 20-30 years.
Introducing healthy life-style with plenty of fruit and vegetables, as well as physical exercise, is extremely important to beat the problem of obesity. Young children are usually very active and they love games and plays. Cutting the time they spend in front of TV and computer while eating junk food is also important. Getting children into good habits will bring results in the future.
If, however, the youngsters are already overweight or obese, waiting for a miracle won’t make them shed the weight. If changing the diet and physical exercise are not enough, let them consult a doctor and see the options for weight loss. The surgery, in some cases, is the only way. Young patients have to be aware, though, that it is absolutely necessary to change life-style after the procedure. Healthy diet and exercising have to be part of their life if they won’t to lose weight and maintain it.
