Health Study: Child Obesity

Child Obesity Causes and Effects

Written by:- Dhruv Dev Dubey, Entrepreneur, Blogger and Infographic Designer at 3D India Staffing Research & Consulting Co India, Bangalore. https://GlobalIndiaInc.BlogSpot.Com 

Child obesity is a medical condition in which excess fat gets accumulated in a child’s body. An overweight child weighs more than the normal or average weight for his age. This extra weight causes serious health problems like diabetes, sleeping disorders, high blood pressure and high cholesterol even at a young age which can seriously reduce the life expectancy of the child, and make them more likely to contract infections and other illnesses. Excess weight can also cause stress, poor self-esteem or depression in the child.

There are a variety of causes of child obesity such as a lack of or reduced physical activity, unhealthy diet or snacking, poor parenting or genetic factors. Eating foods that are rich in the wrong fats and processed sugar are also major reasons for weight gain in children. Today many children lead a sedentary lifestyle where they sit in front of screens such as theTV or computers for long periods of time rather than going out to play children them at an early age.

Often overweight children get subjected to bullying or teasing, which causes low self-esteem and poor social skills in the children compared to their peers. A fat child may withdraw himself from normal activities and suffer from bouts of crying and irritability.

The most common symptoms of child obesity are fatigue, depression, eating more, and reluctance to socialize.If you see signs of obesity in your child, it may be best to consult a doctor. The doctor can find out your child’s body mass index (BMI) which is then compared to the standard BMIs to determine if your child is overweight, obese or not.

Overweight children might become overweight adults and so its essential to tackle the weight problem in childhood itself. The best way to reduce excess weight in children is by following a regimen of exercise and healthy food habits. A lifestyle change has to be made, where the child stays active and eats healthy foods. In some cases, certain medications or in extreme cases weight-loss surgery may be required but this is rare and mainly a healthier lifestyle needs to be adopted.

Children may get addicted to unhealthy foods and choose fried or oily foods instead of fruits and vegetables. Socioeconomic factors also cause increased weight in children, for instance, fast food is easily available and very cheap compared to healthy food leading to weight gain in children of lower-income groups. Some parents, out of their love or ignorance indulge their children to overeat especially when children are young and dependent on their parents and may be unable to decide on healthy choices for themselves. Advertising of snacks and unhealthy food are also a big reason for obesity in

The advertisements make the junk food seem irresistible to kids who in turn eat more of this food rather than healthy food. Children who are not breastfed also stand a big chance of being obese as they may get addicted to the additives in the powder foods that are given to them instead of the milk, and when weaning a child the wrong foods may lead a child to get addicted to

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Dhruv Dev Dubey, 
Entrepreneur, Blogger and Infographic Designer 
at 3D India Staffing Research & Consulting Co India, Bangalore. https://GlobalIndiaInc.BlogSpot.Com