Obesity In Children And Adolescents
Obesity is not just an aesthetic problem, excess weight can cause the emergence of several health problems such as diabetes, heart problems and poor skeletal formation.
About 15% of children and 8% of adolescents suffer from obesity problems, and eight out of ten adolescents remain obese in adulthood.
Children generally gain weight easily due to factors such as: erroneous eating habits, genetic inclination, sedentary lifestyle, psychological disturbances, problems in family cohabitation among others.
People say that obese children eat a lot of food. This statement is not always true, since in general obese children use foods of high caloric value that do not need to be in large quantities to cause weight gain.
Excessive Consumption of Fatty Foods
As an example we can mention the famous hamburger sandwiches, dogs calentes, pizzas, etc. That moms love to prepare for their children's snack, the chips, the fillets in the butter are the real villains of the infant feeding, coming from meeting the staff of the health team who condemn these foods exposing the dangers of Poor feeding to parents where some still think that healthy child is fat kid. Children often imitate parents in everything they do, so if parents have the wrong eating habits, they end up inducing their children to eat in the same way.
Lack Of Physical Activities
The sedentary life facilitated by technological advances such as computers, television, video games, etc., means that children do not have to exert themselves physically. Nowadays, unlike some years ago, children due to urban violence at the request of their parents, stay indoors with activities that do not stimulate them to do physical activities such as running, playing ball, etc., which they spend hours standing in front of a television or other electronic equipment and almost always with a packet of biscuit or a sandwich and soft drinks. This is a worrying factor for the development of obesity.
Anxiety
It is not only adults who suffer from anxiety caused by day-to-day stress. Young people are also targets of this symptom, caused, for example, by concerns in weeks of testing at school, among others. Anxiety makes them eat more. It is as if it were a compulsive comelon, without hunger.
Psychiatrists say that behind an obese person there can always be a psychological problem, aggravating due to our culture where society excludes the fat of several games due to their situation. This only leads the child or adolescent to worsen because they are almost always shy and feel ashamed, they end up isolating themselves and making food a "fugue" from reality, that is, the more rejected, the more anxious the more they eat.
Depression
People with symptoms of depression, suffer changes in appetite can become thin or fat. Some research found that the depressed person usually does not practice physical activities and eat more sweets, mainly chocolate.
Hormonal factors
Obesity may still correlate with hormonal variations such as: excess insulin; growth hormone deficiency; excess of hydrocortizone, estrogens, etc.
Genetic factors
Some research has already revealed that if one parent is obese, the child has a 50% chance of becoming chubby, and if both parents are overweight, the risk increases to 100%. The child who has obese parents runs the risk of becoming obese also because obesity can be acquired genetically.
Have you paid attention and that there is always someone chubby in your class or among your friends in the neighborhood?
This indicates that obesity is an increasingly present risk in the lives of young people today, which is very worrying. Did you know that in the 70s, the ratio of obese between 6 and 18 years in conditions above the weight were only 3%?
And the worst that in the last 30 years the fat contingent has increased 5 times, that is, approximately 6.5 million children and adolescents are obese.
It is the key word to avoid obesity. Here are some tips recommended by doctors and nutritionists so that you prevent yourself against this disease and have a healthy life:
Follow a balanced diet, rich in fruits, vegetables and vegetables.
Respect the schedules of the meals and not pinch goodies between one interval and another.
Avoid fatty foods, such as sweets, fried foods and sodas.
Physical activities, whether sports in high school or academy, provided that
Guide by a professional. Walking is the best requested, because anyone can.
Drink plenty of water, at least 2 liters per day. Water is important
in the good performance of the organism functions.Principally for those who practice
physical activities, since it keeps the body always hydrated.
Obesity is a serious problem and should be considered carefully. If you are or know someone who is overweight, you should seek medical help, as the causes of obesity can have different origins from irregular habits to genetic and hormonal factors. The sooner it comes, the greater the chances of healing. But do not forget that the most important thing is to be good with ourselves. Having a legal body depends on emotional balance and a conscious mind.