Today's post is about childhood obesity. There is an alarming trend. It can be called an epidemic
for which if we do not control, it may decrease the life-expectancy of the American people. I also
compile a few important findings from recent scientific researches.
According to a survey of top health and fitness trends released by the American College of
Sports Medicine (ACSM) published in the November/December 2006 issue of ACSM's Health &
Fitness® Journal, Childhood Obesity ranks number 1. It is predicted that schools are unlikely
to increase time devoted to physical education or nutrition education. Providing physical
activity for kids may fall in the hands of the health/fitness industry along with fitness professionals.
About 80% of obese children become obese adult. Only 20% of obese adults were obese as children.
The above-mentioned trend and statistics should alert every family, school, teacher, physical-fitness educator, nutrition educator and physician to collaborate to buck this trend. It is a national priority.
I believe that the best starting point to combat this epidemic is at home. The parents must be educated about the danger of childhood obesity and then do something about it. How? Read on.
Parents should lead by example. They should learn more about healthy styles of living which include
healthy diet and nutrition practice, regular exercises and avoidance of other behaviors such excessive drinking, watching television or surfing the internet, to name only a few. During this setting-example period, parent should start educating their obese child without forcing the child to do the same.
What I am trying to say in the above paragraph is for parents to build Trust. Many children will not trust their parents because they are seeing examples of bad behaviors every day. They just don't know how to disagree with their parents. Without trust, parents will not have the Authority to guide or discipline their children. With trust, which has to be earned and no matter how long it will take, parents will then tell their child what to eat, how much to eat, and what bad behaviors to avoid, etc.
The next step is for the parents to take the child to see their primary care physician for a physical
examination and consultation for further education about how to reduce and maintain healthy weight.
The primary care physician role is very important. He or she should adapt the the team concept in treating diabetes mellitus. The parents and the child are the center of the team. The primary care physician is the team co-ordinator who will co-ordinate the care of the child obesity with other team members, such as nutritionist, physical fitness educator, and teacher. Other team members such as psychologist, phyisian specialist and social workers are optional depending on the indidual child's need.
Another important duty of the primary care physician is to guide the parent to obtain useful and reliable sources of educational materials.
This subject can be written as a How To..... at www.wikihow.com. Someone might have done that already.
Below are some recent researches about obesity, weight loss, weight control, sugary soft drinks and weight loss drugs.
Poor diet and physical activity were responsible for approximately 400,000 deaths second only to tobacco use. This was the top significant increase of 100,000 deaths from the year 1900. Journal Of American MedicalAssociation(JAMA), 2004.
Modest exercise Helps Prevent Weight Gains walking 30 minutes a day without change of diet habit.
Archives of InternalMedicine, Jan.12 2004.
Waist circumference can be used to predict health risk. The limit are 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women. Caution:against replacing BMI with waist circumference. American Journal of Nutrition,March, 2004.
Increasig fruit intake, and less fat, in a Canadian study, may help reduce weight.
Increase vegetables has no effect in weight loss in this study. It was possible that people add
butter oilos cheese totheir salads. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 04.
Big Portions of Calorie-dense Foods boos overall caloric intake Am journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2004.
Sugary soft drinks caused weight gain, and diabetes. Fruit punches are also the culprit. Women who had one or more drinks was twice as high to develop diabetes. The reason is that it is less likely to make one feel full thansolid foods JAMA, August 24, 2005.Large, low-calorie salads can aid in weight loss before a main course. Journal of Am Dietetic association.
Drugs, sibutramine(Meridia) and orlistat(Xenical) fuoxetine(ProZac), in a review of 14 clinical trials, were used inthis study. Type diabetes patients lost an average os 6 to 13 lbs. after 6 to 12 months of any of the drugs. Theauthor cautioned thatlong term safety unclear. Archives of Internal Medicine July12, 2004
Long-term benefits of weight-loss drug, sibutramin( Meridia) in 29 trials lasting 8 to 54 weeks is unclear. The average weight loss of 10 lbs per year was noted. Small improvements in triglycerides and HDL Cholesterol levels were recorded. Only slight improvement in blood glucose control in diabetes was obtained. Modest increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressures was also noted. Archives of Internal Medicine, March 2004.
Most of the above excerpts of the scientific studies are adapted from The Johns Hopkins White Papers 2005: Nutrion And Weight Control For Longevity. I subscribe to this white papers every year for the last few years. It is extremely useful for me.
In conclusion, I barely touch the tip of the iceberg on this epidemic.
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