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What is
Obesity?
Obesity
is a disease that affects nearly one-third of the adult American
population (approximately 60 million). The number of overweight
and obese Americans has continued to increase since 1960, a
trend that is not slowing down. Today, 64.5 percent of adult
Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as being
overweight or obese. Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000
excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American
adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion.
Obesity is the second leading cause of unnecessary deaths
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Despite its toll
taken in death and disability, obesity does not receive the
attention it deserves from government, the health care
profession or the insurance industry.
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Research is
severely limited by a shortage of funds.
Inadequate
insurance coverage limits access to treatment.
Discrimination
and mistreatment of persons with obesity is widespread and
often considered socially acceptable.
Causes
Obesity results from consuming more calories than the body uses.
Genetic and environmental factors influence body weight, but
precisely how they interact to determine a person's weight is
still unclear. One proposed explanation is that body weight is
regulated around a set point, similar to a thermostat setting. A
higher-than-normal set point may explain why some people are
obese and why losing weight and maintaining weight loss are
difficult for them.
Genetic Factors: Recent research suggests that
on the average, the genetic influence contributes to about 33
percent of body weight, but the contribution may be more or less
in a particular person.
Socioeconomic Factors: Such factors strongly
influence obesity, especially among women. In the United States,
obesity is more than twice as common among women in lower
socioeconomic groups as among women in higher ones. Why
socioeconomic factors have such a strong influence on women's
weight is not fully understood, but sanctions against obesity do
increase with increasing social status. Women in higher
socioeconomic groups have more time and resources for the
dieting and exercise that enable them to conform to these social
demands.
Psychological Factors: Emotional disturbances,
once considered an important cause of obesity, are now
considered a reaction to the strong prejudice and discrimination
against obese people. One type of emotional disturbance, a
negative body image, is a serious problem for many young obese
women. It leads to extreme self-consciousness and discomfort in
social situations.
Obesity and Children
Today's youth are
considered the most inactive generation in history caused in
part by reductions in school physical education programs and
unavailable or unsafe community recreational facilities. In the
U.S., only the state of Illinois requires daily physical
education for students in grades K to 12.
Many adverse health
effects associated with overweight are observed in children and
adolescents. Overweight during childhood and particularly
adolescence is related to increased morbidity and mortality in
later life.
Many parents are
rightly concerned about their child's weight and how it affects
them. They look for specific answers for prevention and
treatment options. Unfortunately, the state of the science is a
lot less precise than we would like. Are kids too concerned
about their weight? What are the best strategies for prevention?
What treatments work over a long time? Researchers are trying to
answer those and many other questions. In many cases, common
sense works well.
In situations where
there are serious health, psychological or social problems,
parents should seek out the best possible advice.
Obesity
in children and adolescents is a serious issue with many health
and social consequences that often continue into adulthood.
Implementing prevention programs and getting a better
understanding of treatment for youngsters is important to
controlling the obesity epidemic.
The percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight
and obese is now higher than ever before. Poor dietary habits
and inactivity are reported to contribute to the increase of
obesity in youth.
Causes
There are many factors that contribute to causing child and
adolescent obesity - some are modifiable and others are not.
Modifiable causes
include:
Sedentary
behavior - High frequency of television viewing, computer
usage, and similar behavior that takes up time that can be
used for physical activity.
Socioeconomic
Status - Low family incomes and non-working parents.
Eating Habits -
Over-consumption of high-calorie foods. Some eating patterns
that have been associated with this behavior are eating when
not hungry, eating while watching TV or doing homework.
Environment -
Some factors are over-exposure to advertising of foods that
promote high-calorie foods and lack of recreational
facilities.
Non-changeable
causes include:
Prevention
Teaching healthy behaviors at a young age is important since
change becomes more difficult with age. Behaviors involving
physical activity and nutrition are the cornerstone of
preventing obesity in children and adolescents. Families and
schools are the two most critical links in providing the
foundation for those behaviors.
Families
Parents are the most important role models for children. Results
from an American Obesity Association survey show that:
Almost 30
percent of parents said that they are "somewhat" or "very"
concerned about their children's weight.
12 percent of
parents considered their child overweight.
Comparing their
own childhood health habits to their children's, 27 percent
of parents said their children eat less nutritiously, and 24
percent said their children are less physically active.
35 percent of
parents rated their children's school programs for teaching
good patterns of eating and physical activity to prevent
obesity as "poor," "non-existent," or "don't know."
Among six
choices of what they believed to be the greatest risk to
their children's long-term health and quality of life, 5.6
percent of parents chose "being overweight or obese." More
parents selected other choices as the greatest risk: alcohol
(6.1 percent), sexually transmitted disease (10 percent),
smoking (13.3 percent), violence (20.3 percent), and illegal
drugs (24 percent).
In terms of
their own behavior, 61 percent of parents said that it would
be either "not very difficult" or "not at all difficult" to
change their eating and/or physical activity patterns if it
would help prevent obesity in any of their children.
Create an Active
Environment
Plan special
active family-outings such as a hiking or ski trip.
Start an active
neighborhood program. Join together with other families for
group activities like touch-football, basketball, tag or
hide-and-seek.
Assign active
chores to every family member such as vacuuming, washing the
car or mowing the lawn. Rotate the schedule of chores to
avoid boredom from routine.
Enroll your
child in a structured activity that he or she enjoys, such
as tennis, gymnastics, martial arts, etc.
Instill an
interest in your child to try a new sport by joining a team
at school or in your community.
Limit the amount
of TV watching.
Create a Healthy
Eating Environment
Plan times when
you prepare foods together. Children enjoy participating and
can learn about healthy cooking and food preparation.
Eat meals
together at the dinner table at regular times.
Avoid rushing to
finish meals. Eating too quickly does not allow enough time
to digest and to feel a sense of fullness.
Avoid other
activities during mealtimes such as watching TV.
Avoid foods that
are high in calories, fat or sugar.
Have snack foods
available that are low-calorie and nutritious. Fruit,
vegetables and yogurt are some examples.
Avoid serving
portions that are too large.
Avoid forcing
your child to eat if he/she is not hungry. If your child
shows atypical signs of not eating, consult a healthcare
professional.
Limit the
frequency of fast-food eating to no more than once per week.
Avoid using food
as a reward or the lack of food as punishment.
Health Risks
Along with the rise in childhood obesity, there has been an
increase in the incidence and prevalence of medical conditions
in children and adolescents that had been rare in the past.
Pediatricians and childhood obesity researchers are reporting
more frequent cases of obesity-related diseases such as type 2
diabetes, asthma and hypertension that once were considered
adult conditions.
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