According to latest statistics, nearly 16 percent of children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight. Childhood obesity is fast becoming an epidemic and if we do nothing to stop it, children will have many weight-related health problems that are usually present in adults.
Childhood obesity can develop due to different factors. These include genetics where children with obese parents have the tendency to be obese; diet where junk food and greasy food is regularly consumed by children; and finally lack of physical activity is more and more evident among children who prefer sitting and playing video and computer games rather than playing outside. In fact, lack of physical activity is one of the major causes of childhood obesity.
Children who are obese suffer from many psychological problems like low self-esteem and inability to make friends. But the health effects of childhood obesity are far greater than the psychological problems.
Here are some common health-related problems that childhood obesity causes:
o Children who are overweight and have a family history of diabetes have a higher risk of developing Type II diabetes.
o Obesity raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases including high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol levels.
o Although it is being debated, many researchers believe that asthma in children is linked to childhood obesity.
o Obese children tend to suffer more frequently from gall bladder diseases including gallstones accompanied with fever, pain in the stomach and jaundice.
o Overweight boys between the ages of 10 and 16 can suffer from slipped capital femoral epiphysis. This causes severe hip pain.
o Obese children can get pancreatitis with severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and fever.
o It has been seen that obese children snore loudly, have labored breathing and sleep poorly. This is known as sleep apnea.
o Childhood obesity can lead to fatty degeneration of the liver, a condition that is medically known as hepatic steatosis.
o Above all, obese children grown up to be obese adults and then have high risk of developing all the diseases caused by being overweight.