Tackling obesity in children

Tackling obesity in children More than 30% people of the society including children have potbelly abdominal obesity. India reportedly witnesses 10 million cases of childhood obesity annually. New Delhi, March 22, 2017: India is witnessing an epidemic of metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by abdominal obesity, high triglyceride, low good cholesterol, high blood pressure and high sugar. Abdominal girth of more than 90 cm in men and 80 cm in women indicates that the person is vulnerable to future heart attack. Normal weight obesity is the new epidemic. A person could be obese even if his body weight was within the normal range. Children with BMI equal to or exceeding the age-gender-specific 95th percentile are defined obese. An extra inch of fat around the abdomen increases the chances of heart disease by 1.5 times. Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, National President, Indian Medical Association (IMA) and President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Dr RN Tandon – Honorary Secretary General IMA in a joint statement said that, “Normally once the height stops growing, most of the organs will also stop growing. The weight of the heart, liver of kidney cannot increase after that. Only muscles can build up to some extent. The only thing, after that stage, which can increase the weight of the body, is deposition of fat. Therefore any weight gain after puberty is invariably due to fat. Though the overall weight can be in the acceptable normal range but any weight gain within that range will be abnormal for that person. One should not gain weight of more than 5 kg after the age of 20 years in males and 18 years in females. After the age of 50, the weight should reduce and not increase.” “Potbelly obesity is linked to eating refined carbohydrates and not animal fats. General obesity is linked to eating animal fats. Refined carbohydrate includes white rice, white maida and white sugar. Brown sugar is better than white sugar. Refined carbohydrates are called bad carbohydrates and animal fat is called bad fat. Trans fat or vanaspati is bad for health. It increases the levels of bad cholesterol and reduces good cholesterol in the body. Reduction in weight can reduce snoring, pain of arthritis, blood pressure and control uncontrolled diabetes”, add Dr K K Aggarwal. Childhood Obesity can further lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. 70 percent of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as social stigma and poor self-esteem. Following are some key points for tackling obesity in children: 1. Skip carbohydrates once in a week. 2. Combine a sweet food with bitter food (prefer aloomethi over aloomatar). 3. Walk, walk and walk… 4. Consume green bitter items in foods such as karela, methi, palak, bhindi etc. 5. Do not eat trans fats (vanaspati). 6. Do not consume more than 80 ml of soft drink in a day. 7. Do not consume sweets with more than 30% sugar. 8. Avoid maida, rice and white sugar. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859125/