question puzzles and the answer evades most of us! If this question
worries you, come and join the club! All concerned, sensitive,
intelligent and loving parents are welcome. The past few weeks have
been dedicated to the 'integrated development' of a child, so if
you've missed some, do catch up and then go further. This week, I'm
going to write about one of the eating disorders in children –
obesity. I have previously only touched the tip of the iceberg, but it
should suffice to send chills down the spines of parents, enough to
take cognizance of this growing ailment among our children. While the
West woke up to this malaise long ago, a lot of us in India are still
not aware of this as a serious problem.
Obesity has taken on epidemic proportions across urban India.
According to doctors at the All India Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the
death rate among children will soon shoot up to 33% percent (from the
current 9%) on account of cardio-vascular diseases caused by obesity
alone! According to a survey conducted by them on 1,100 adolescent
school-going children, about 21% boys and 22% girls were overweight
and an overall 24% qualified as obese! The children in government
schools were in better physical shape than the children in private
schools, revealing a connection between higher incomes and obesity.
The higher the income, the fatter the kids! The World Health
Organization (WHO) calls it 'globesity', since this problem is now
worldwide.
What is generally seen is that fat babies(not the regular baby fat)
grow up to become fat children, then on to fat adolescents and
eventually fat adults. The babies and small children are overfed or
given a wrong diet, a huge amount of fat cells are produced in the
body, as compared to a child whose fat cells are of normal count.
After growing up, if this same adolescent or adult goes on a diet and
loses weight, he/she thinks that the fat cells have finally gone, but
unfortunately, that is not the case. The fat cells, squeezed and
shrivelled, stay in the body. As soon as the diet is relaxed, they
become re-activated with a vengeance, and these people put on weight
faster than they lost it! That is why you hear people complaining that
they always have to stay on a diet otherwise they gain weight very
fast. This is because since childhood they have stored more fat cells
than other people.
There are many known causes of obesity - genetic, hereditary,
cultural, while others are because of a sedentary lifestyle. One main
genetic reason is the leptin gene, which is manufactured in the fat
cells, and it sends messages to the body to eat or stop eating. An
excess or lack of this gene can cause undereating or overeating. The
other reason is heredity. An individual inherits a particular body
type and a genetic inclination towards obesity manifests itself in
those people more who are more prone to environmental triggers like
stress, easy availabilty of convenience foods, a lazy lifestyle, etc.
When the genes tip the balance, some succumb easily, others less so.
According to the American Cancer Society, obesity leads to a dozen
different types of cancer!
The cultural factor has to do more with lifestyles, habits, likes and
dislikes of various races and cultures. Like I've mentioned before, in
a lot of cultures, overfeeding children is indicative of familial
love. The more the food and the richer it is, it sybolizes health and
prosperity! Haven't we all met people whose children are just
'healthy', not obese? This is just a way to turn a blind eye to the
real problem, but it does not go away, only takes on worse
proportions.
A great amount of research points to the fact that television and
computers are the menace of society today, especially among children
and are the primary causes of obesity and other health-related
problems. Parents switch on the TV to keep infants or even older
children from crying or throwing tantrums. In a lot of homes, meals
are always eaten while watching television. I've been told by a lot of
parents that their children fall asleep only to TV, and the first
thing they do when they wake up is switch it on again! They don't
'listen' and there is no other way to make them do anything, besides
letting them watch as much TV as they want! Well, most of you who are
now familiar with my thoughts, know what I have to say on the subject!
But that is a separate discussion altogether, to be talked about
later. Parents are either helpless or in despair. The 'eye-mouth'
connection is very strong, watching more TV leads to a 'zombie'-like
state and the children keep eating while watching. Fat is bound to
accumulate if the input is more than the output. Such children also
don't like to go or play outdoors and physical activities are soon
beyond their physical capacity. They are unable to burn all the excess
calories. Our bodies are better designed to deal with hunger than
fullness. When we are inactive, controlling appetite does not happen
instinctively, so it has to be self-imposed. Also the kind of
advertising about foods these days promotes only high-calorie
fast-food. Although obesity has been recognized as a serious national
problem, precious little is being done to curb advertisements endorsed
by or aimed at children. On the other hand, countries like Norway and
Sweden have placed a complete ban on such advertising. Consequently,
in these countries, the level of childhood obesity is very low, while
countries with the least regulated television laws have alarming
levels of child obesity!
All in all, a great cause for worry. Next time I will talk about the
effects of obesity on a child's health, personality and psychology, as
also the other eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia). Till then,
enough food for thought!
Juhi Mehta, the quintessential mother-teacher, runs Life Express - an after-school center for children. She can be reached at juhimalini@gmail.com. She also writes 'Reflections of an inner Journey'
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