Childhood Obesity: A Pandemic
Childhood Obesity is increasingly becoming a problem all over the world. It is considered the single most common dietary problem faced by western countries today. It has become an epidemic in the United Kingdom as roughly 2 million children are overweight or very close to being so. Medical experts agree that the health consequences of obesity can be devastating and the financial implication can be alarming.
Children and infants are not exonerated from this global health threat. People are gaining weight and becoming fatter everyday. Some people have suggested that it is partly due to the increase in the consumption of processed and over refined foods and the amount of preservatives and other constituents contained in them. Some have argued that it is as a result of junk food sold in our high streets shops. However, there is a general consensus that it is caused when people take more calories than their bodies can process. The questions to be asked and answered in this article are: what are the causes, symptoms and prevention of childhood obesity?
Poor eating choices are identified as a main cause of childhood obesity. Families are becoming focused on the speed in which a meal can be made rather than preparing nutritionally balanced meal. They now find it easier and quicker to walk down to a fast food establishment to buy meal than it is to go home and cook one. This convenience is one of the main sources of obesity in children.
The Symptoms of childhood obesity are enormous. Severely overweight children may fail to breathe deeply and rapidly enough, resulting in low blood oxygen levels and high blood carbon dioxide levels. Some people with this condition often stop breathing for a short time during sleep and this put strain on the heart, which eventually may lead to the symptoms of heart diseases, such as leg swelling and other associated symptoms.
Prevention and early detection is highly advised. Physical activity or exercises is widely recognized as an important component in treating and preventing obesity in children. This is, of course requires a shift in lifestyle to sensible eating habits and couple with diet modifications. Even with medication that addresses obesity, it should not be viewed as an automatic weight loose remedy without physical activity. For all of these obesity problems there is the option to reduce weight through surgery. However, surgery should be postponed until you know what the causes of this childhood obesity are.
While childhood obesity has become a pandemic but the questions is who are to be blamed for these growing issue? The parents, school, technology, fast food shops? Perhaps they all play a part and can also play a role in turning the situation around.
Children and infants are not exonerated from this global health threat. People are gaining weight and becoming fatter everyday. Some people have suggested that it is partly due to the increase in the consumption of processed and over refined foods and the amount of preservatives and other constituents contained in them. Some have argued that it is as a result of junk food sold in our high streets shops. However, there is a general consensus that it is caused when people take more calories than their bodies can process. The questions to be asked and answered in this article are: what are the causes, symptoms and prevention of childhood obesity?
Poor eating choices are identified as a main cause of childhood obesity. Families are becoming focused on the speed in which a meal can be made rather than preparing nutritionally balanced meal. They now find it easier and quicker to walk down to a fast food establishment to buy meal than it is to go home and cook one. This convenience is one of the main sources of obesity in children.
The Symptoms of childhood obesity are enormous. Severely overweight children may fail to breathe deeply and rapidly enough, resulting in low blood oxygen levels and high blood carbon dioxide levels. Some people with this condition often stop breathing for a short time during sleep and this put strain on the heart, which eventually may lead to the symptoms of heart diseases, such as leg swelling and other associated symptoms.
Prevention and early detection is highly advised. Physical activity or exercises is widely recognized as an important component in treating and preventing obesity in children. This is, of course requires a shift in lifestyle to sensible eating habits and couple with diet modifications. Even with medication that addresses obesity, it should not be viewed as an automatic weight loose remedy without physical activity. For all of these obesity problems there is the option to reduce weight through surgery. However, surgery should be postponed until you know what the causes of this childhood obesity are.
While childhood obesity has become a pandemic but the questions is who are to be blamed for these growing issue? The parents, school, technology, fast food shops? Perhaps they all play a part and can also play a role in turning the situation around.
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