What are the causes and effects of childhood obesity?
Children become overweight and obese for a variety of reasons. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these factors. Only in rare cases is being overweight caused by a medical condition such as a hormonal problem.
What foods are causing obesity?
Limit these foods and drinks:
- Sugar-sweetened beverages (soda, fruit drinks, sports drinks)
- Fruit juice (no more than a small amount per day)
- Refined grains(white bread, white rice, white pasta) and sweets.
- Potatoes (baked or fried)
- Red meat (beef, pork, lamb) and processed meats (salami, ham, bacon, sausage)
Is Obesity my fault?
It’s not your fault if you are seriously overweight or obese, says Professor John Dixon, a leading international expert in obesity. “The trajectory of your adult weight was designed in the first 1000 days of your life, starting from conception, and you are not to blame for how heavy you are,” he says.
How are parents responsible for childhood obesity?
Bad parents can also be responsible for a child’s obesity because a child doesn’t pick out and pay for the food it eats. Letting your child sit inside all day and do nothing will add up to poor physical development and possibly obesity. The younger a child becomes obese, the more its health is at risk.
How does childhood obesity affect mental health?
Childhood obesity can lead to sleeping disorders, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Obesity can make it harder for kids to participate in activities, and even chores may become dreadful. Kids also become a target for bullying.
Is childhood obesity a problem?
Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States, putting children and adolescents at risk for poor health. Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents is still too high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years1: The prevalence of obesity was 18.5%.
How do I know if my child is overweight?
One way to tell if your child is overweight is to calculate his or her body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of body weight relative to height. The BMI calculator uses a formula that produces a score often used to tell whether a person is underweight, a normal weight, overweight, or obese.
What are the social causes of obesity?
Social factors could involve stress that could be financial or a stress from trauma, lack of sleep, marriage problems, and lack of education regarding health or types of food choices. Physical determinants could include a natural environment, lack of physical activity, transportation or worksite settings.
How does obesity affect a child socially?
Obesity stigma hits children especially hard When children and youth are bullied or victimized because of their weight by peers, family and friends, it can trigger feelings of shame and lead to depression, low self-esteem, poor body image and even suicide.
What are the five genetic and environmental factors that influence obesity?
Many factors influence body weight-genes, though the effect is small, and heredity is not destiny; prenatal and early life influences; poor diets; too much television watching; too little physical activity and sleep; and our food and physical activity environment.
How does childhood obesity affect the community?
Childhood obesity can profoundly affect children’s physical health, social, and emotional well-being, and self esteem. It is also associated with poor academic performance and a lower quality of life experienced by the child.
What will happen if childhood obesity continues?
In adults, obesity increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers, and other chronic diseases. During childhood, obesity increases the chance that a youth will have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, joint problems, asthma, and other health conditions.
What are the environmental factors that contribute to obesity?
Recent hypotheses in the scientific community suggest the current obesity epidemic is being driven largely by environmental factors (e.g., high energy/high fat foods, fast food consumption, television watching, “super-sized” portions, etc.) rather than biological ones.
How much of obesity is genetic?
Genetic and environmental factors interact to regulate body weight. Overall, the heritability of obesity is estimated at 40% to 70%. More than 244 genes have been found to strongly affect adiposity when overexpressed or deleted in mice.