We all like chubby kids and go gaga over the baby weight as soon as they are born. She was 4.8 Lbs! Well we do take pride in this and for many more years to come, feeding the baby energy rich foods, laying the foundation of obesity at that very tender age. Let the child be a little old and once they are handed into a day care even before they were 3 months old, leads to a far more risk of they being obese later in life, mainly because they are less breastfed and introduced to solids much earlier.

Come the age of preschool and the habit of bad eating has already been instilled into the young ones. It is typical to see kids having a similar kind of routine over days; morning breakfast in front of cartoons with sugar coated cereals, hours together playing video games and munching chips, sipping over sized soda with popcorns, a frozen meal for dinner with juice and then finally in bed.. In 1950’s, for every one cup of soda, kids had three cups of milk; things have now changed drastically.

According to US Health and human services department, more than 10% of the children in the age group of 2-5, today are overweight. Nearly 39% children aged 6-11 and around 52% teenagers between12 to 19 are ‘very overweight’. If the present trend continues, by 2020, nearly half of the world’s child population will be obese!

The main reasons that cause obesity in kids
Lack of proper nutrients:
Those mesmerizing TV commercials with lip smacking food that is low in cost and is widely available would always tempt kids to persuade their parents into buying them that junk. But do we actually know, that a single meal would mean gorging on nearly 3000 calories, far more than what is recommended by pediatricians.
Research has revealed that children’s food served in nearly 93% of the food chains across US provide meals that is not only high in servings but also in calories and sodium levels. A study across Delhi schools revealed that nearly 28 per cent of children visited fast food joints once a week and 18 per cent visited twice a week. These junk food joints are actually turning out to be factories that are producing a fat future.

It’s in our genes!
Ever wondered why we cannot resist the smell of good food and eat even if we are not really hungry. Blame it on the genes! Scientists have explored the human evolution to come to a result that our body is genetically programmed to eat food when available. Our ancestors would gobble up everything to survive during scarcity. Times have changed and so has the environment. Food is in abundance but still we have that instinct of eating at any given opportunity, without expending.

Staying Sedentary
Oh those video games and television, god bless the inventors. It is a handy way to keep children occupied and mommies and daddies can have some peace and keeps them so engrossed that all they remember is to eat, eat and eat!
A child on an average is inactive for at least 5-6 hours in a day, whether it is surfing the net, playing video games or reading books. This of course is apart from the sleeping time. A study by US health and human services department reveals that 11% of U.S. children are physically inactive, while almost 74% performed some physical activity three or more days per week. More than 42% did not participate in sports, and 17% watched 3 or more hours of television each day. The same holds true for children in Delhi where a study by AIIMS revealed that 7.4% of school going children children who were obese, belonged to affluent families. Nearly 90% of them never engaged in any kind of physical activity at all. 38% were entertained through TV, 21 % through computer, 10 % by music and eight were engaged in reading.

Family history of Obesity
Even if one of the parents is obese, the chance of children being overweight becomes 50% and if both the parents are overweight the chances cross well over 80%!

Medical Illnesses
Although medical problems too lead to weight gain in children but it is limits to 1% of the total number of obese children.
Low self esteem and depression

Obesity is the problem not only of the body but also of the mind. It not only affects the body but also the mind. A recent study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry suggests that there is a link between obese children being more vulnerable to bullying both physical and verbal.

What is at stake?
Children might not get heart attacks but they can have their arteries blocked, serious Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, breathing problems, sleep apnea along with high blood pressure and cholesterol to name a few. Its not that all overweight children will be obese adults but the chances are more than 70% that they will.

How can it be treated?
Start at birth, promote breastfeeding- Mother’s milk helps prevent weight gain in children and also help children understand their hunger pangs better. As for older kids, they generally don’t do the grocery, it the parents who are responsible for instilling the eating habits in kids whether out of ignorance or time crunch. The best way to tackle with this issue is not to ignore it.
Instill good eating habits – We as parents force our kids to finish whatever is their in the plate, even when they say they are full. Even a baby signals his full stomach by moving away from the bottle or breast. The idea of eating only when hungry should be reinforced. A child should be supported by showing him good eating habits.

Do not give sweet or food as a reward, look for other alternatives.

Limit child’s visit to fast food center but don’t completely cut down on his favorite snack he might eat them behind your back. Provide nutritious low calorie, low fat food. Limit the availability of high fat and high sugar food in the house.
Regular exercise - This could be anything that involves physical activity like riding a cycle, jumping rope, climbing monkey bars, swimming. Any activity that a child would enjoy should help him, loose weight.

Turn off that TV- We tend to eat more when in front of the TV. So turn that TV off while you eat and let the kids catch that from you. Eat together and eat healthy. Restrict child’s TV watching and internet time to one to two hours per day.

Always remember, they are kids and would rebel, but let your kids know that you love them, no matter what their weight is and you always want them to be happy and healthy.