What is Childhood Obesity?
Childhood obesity is when a child gains unhealthy weight according to his/her age and height, although obesity is defined by body mass index or BMI.
It becomes a major problem when it leads to further physical health diseases. Also, it is evident that a poor lifestyle during childhood means continuous obesity in adulthood.
Moreover, obese children not only face physical health issues. Furthermore, children and teens who are overweight or obese can also become mental problems like depression and face poor self-image and self-esteem, towards society, in schools, or the family.
Several studies are sharing multiple information; however, amongst them, these are the collated information:
China- 28 million
India- 14.4 million
United States of America- 13 million
Brazil- 5.2 million
Mexico- 5.1 million.
Prevalence of Childhood obesity:
Childhood obesity is a leading problem in almost every country. So, you can blame digitalization, mobile, and the internet for that.
Besides, In 2016, 41 million children were estimated as overweight at the age of five. Additionally, 13.7 million children approximately are obese at the age of 2–19 years.
Causes of Childhood Obesity
Genetics
It is one of the significant causes of childhood obesity. Thus, if your Family history or psychological factors, and lifestyle all play a role in childhood obesity.
Binge eating and less physical activity
The main childhood obesity cause is a lifestyle where the combination of overeating without exercising destroys your health.
Also, not doing enough physical activity can be another cause of childhood obesity and people of all ages tend to gain weight when they’re less active.
Less consumption of healthy foods
Moreover, A poor diet encompasses high levels of fat or sugar, and few nutrients can cause kids to gain weight fastly. Thus Fast food, candies, and soft drinks are common convicts.
And, the U.S. The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) reports that 32 percent of teenage girls and 52 percent of adolescent boys in the United States drink 24 ounces of soda or more each and every day.
Psychological issues
Surprisingly, psychological problems like stress, anxiety, and depression may also lead to obesity in children because they eat junk food to cope with negative emotions. Therefore it can also cause child obesity.
Excessive use of Smartphone
Several studies suggested the positive relationship between the use of smartphones and the high risk of obesity.
Conclusion:
Children with obesity are a severe health problem where a child started gaining weight and ended up being overweight.
And when overweight comes, it does not come alone, it comes with different causes which impacts are harmful; so it is called childhood obesity.
Also, it almost happens when a child is less physically active or if he/she eats a lot of junk food. However, genetics can also be one of the causes of having obesity in a child if your family history or psychological factors, and lifestyle all play a role in childhood obesity.