Childhood Obesity And Food Choices

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Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries and is now seen rising even in the developing countries.
Environmental factors, lifestyle choices and the cultural environment are responsible for the rising prevalence of obesity in the world. Excess calorie intake in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages, aerated drinks and sweets, decrease in the physical activity levels and increased portion sizes are a few major reasons for childhood obesity.
You are what you eat - an old adage holds good children too. With the change in the eating patterns and influences of other environmental and social factors now, we see that children are eating foods that are high in calories, fat, and sugar and/or salt.
Due to these changes in the food choices that they make the weight and body composition of the children is affected. Child nutritionist worldwide are concerned about the rise in childhood obesity.
What Are The Contributing Factors To Childhood Obesity? Long-Term Consequences Of Childhood Obesity On Children Children who are obese are at a higher risk of developing health problems when compared to those who are not. Childhood obesity is a major risk factor for adult obesity and is also associated with many other health problems like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, certain cancers, joint problems, fatty liver or deranged lipid levels.
The risk for these conditions increases in adulthood when the weight and dietary food habits are not controlled in childhood itself. Being overweight or obese not only affects the child’s physical health but also has psychological effects.
They develop low self-esteem as they are on the heavier side of the weighing machine as compared to many others. They may become victims of discrimination and social astigmatism as they might be bullied by their peers which could lead to low self-confidence in things they do leading to depression, poor academic performance, loneliness and sadness.
Obese kids get tired easily due to hormonal or nutritional imbalances in the body, which again leads to a sedentary lifestyle and thus the vicious cycle of obesity continues. What Steps Can Be Taken To Prevent Childhood Obesity Or Being Overweight? Going on a diet for children to lose weight by cutting down on the portion sizes of the food drastically is inappropriate.
Children in their growth years require the nutrients in food to help them grow and develop better. The goal for children who are overweight or obese is to reduce the rate of weight gain while allowing normal growth and development to take place.
This can be done when you help children learn about what they are eating, teach them to make healthy food choices, find ways to make the food they are eating healthier and reduce the calorie-rich food intake. Following are the ways: Childhood obesity is not something that needs to be neglected and is a serious issue with the advancement of the fast food, the ready availability of foods and change in lifestyle.
Hence children should be educated to choose healthy food and stay active. Getting the child into weight loss programs is never a good idea.
Instead what works is teaching them the art of eating right for a healthy adult life. Nutritionist in Mumbai and dietitians in Mumbai with their nutrition programs for children can help formulate healthy eating plans for children of all age groups to instil the right eating habits and also supports their growth and development. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Arati Shah is an expert nutritionist who crafts personalized weight loss programs at Café Nutrition.
Having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition along with a Post-Graduation in Sports Sciences and Nutrition from S.N.D.T Juhu, she is one of the top nutritionist in Mumbai who can also guide the concerned parents about the right nutrition for children with the same efficacy. She heads the team of dietitians in Mumbai and takes a personal interest in each and every client of Café  Nutrition..