Children and the future have always been seen as signs of hope. However, with childhood obesity being in the way, the future has ceased to be promising and hopeful as parents often desired it to be. This is because obesity as a threat has lifelong and long-term effects that kids face in future.
Much disheartening possibilities, poor life quality and health, shorter longevity and compromised psychological health are just some of them. Thus with such desolate scenario, adults must now take action to give kids of this generation, a better future. For this to happen, it is vital for them to understand the causes and effects of obesity.
Causes of Childhood Obesity
Obesity in children is known to be caused by several factors including:
Genetics: Truth is, it is more likely for obese parents to bear obese kids. This shows the fact that genetics have momentous influence on obesity. However, just like any other genetic potential, all this can be controlled depending on the surrounding of the kid.
Lifestyle patterns: A person’s lifestyle is mostly influenced by family activities, culture and food preferences.
Environmental factors: Besides genetics and lifestyle patterns, there are other environmental factors, which are very influential. They are the major issues that the bigger society should curb. Some of these factors include processed food surplus with preservatives sold in groceries, food commercials that support unhealthy foods and new technologies that promote sedentary lifestyle among many others.
The good news is, all these can be restrained mostly through parental care. This is because of the wide scale patronage. But with working class moms of this generation, the whole situation again becomes more complex.
Effects of Childhood Obesity to the Body and Mind
Obesity among both adults and kids can bring grave medical disorders. Kids are prone to develop major health concerns such high blood pressure and high cholesterol that make them liable to heart illnesses as grownups. According to private study, Type 2 diabetes, which used to be a disease for adults, is nowadays noted to grow in obese kids. However, kids with normal BMI are free from such disorders and run a lesser threat of catching the same during maturity.
The most worrisome childhood obesity effect is mental health. This is because the effect can be immediate and could run to lifetime potentially if not addressed at an early stage. Obese kids have a low self-esteem and feel discriminated by other kids because they think they are different and worse than other kids. According to a study performed by Schwimmer in the year 2003, overweight kids compared their quality of life to those of youthful chemotherapy cancer patients.
The study further proceeds to reveal that various obesity-linked problems affect these childrens’ wellbeing. Such problems include bullying at school, sleep apnea, difficulties in playing many sports and fatigue. As if this is not enough, overweight kids are much more likely to drop school leading to miserable lives without employment or low salaries.
Help the Kids Feel Better
With a society that has been filled with biased cultures and many stereotypes, feeling discriminated by these kids is not so imaginary. Bullying comes from friends and adults like teachers and families. As the children internalize this feeling, they tend to feel more inferior, imperfect and also lose aspiration.
The powerful communication presented to them by the society at large about the idyllic body weight only help to exacerbate their psychological sufferings. This brings up a question that everyone should ask themselves. Does everything change for the better as these children become older disputed rather than conquered? There are very few instances when surmounting the odds made them successful. However, statistics show that many of them end up defeated with the rest of their lives becoming poor and depressed.
After all is said, there are various things all responsible adults can do to soften childhood obesity effects. In the United States, solutions by Surgeon General’s “Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity” were proposed. Most of them lied within the capacity of what parents may do for their kids. Regrettably, not all environmental features can be controlled by these kid’s parents. Thus, the only thing left is to hope that the society in this generation will wake up with this major call.