CHILDHOOD OBESITY ISSUE

Childhood Obesity Issue

Introduction

Obesity is generally defined by a weight representing over 20% of healthy weight, which is calculated according to body mass index (weight / height).  Childhood obesity is the result of a prolonged positive energy balance over time in practice for a long time you introduce more calories than you consume. The problem of obesity, the excess fat has existed for centuries, just visit an art gallery or browse through the history books to verify that it is a common phenomenon for a long time. Traditionally, in fact, obesity has been associated with prosperity and abundance, and this vision is still alive in many developing countries threatened by famine and where obesity could therefore be considered an advantage. Body mass Index (BMI) is a method used to calculate obesity.

Low weight

Child BMI <5th percentile

Could pose an excessive burden

BMI for children between the 85th percentile and 95th percentile

BMI for overweight children

Child BMI <95th percentile

If the child is the 60th percentile, this result means that 60% of children of similar age and sex than he have a body mass index lower. Furthermore, BMI is not a perfect measure and should be used in conjunction with other assessment measures such as the skin fold, the level of physical activity, diet and blood pressure. In Western countries, however, the canon of fashion holds that "thin is beautiful" and the great social pressure toward overweight people has led to a huge industry for slimming products. Despite this social pressure to be thin, requiring the prevalence of obesity is increasing dramatically, so much so that experts believe that obesity should now be considered one of the largest and most neglected public health problems of our time. For many families, having a child fat, plump, and full of creases is quite an achievement, a sign that the child is well, strong and full of health.

But experts in child nutrition do not think alike. According to them these families are very wrong. What matters is not the child is fat or thin. What matters is that the child is healthy. In the last Conference related to obesity and cardiovascular risk factors, it was diagnosed that childhood obesity is as an emerging disease. Both in Europe and the United States since the nineties until today, the incidence of childhood obesity has doubled. (Styne, 2001)

Discussion

Obesity in children is a growing global problem. The problem has become so alarming that several international organizations studying the issue very seriously, including the World Health Organization (WHO). According to this, measures must be taken immediately to combat this epidemic and its impact. In United States of America, the number of overweight children is growing. Obesity occurs when the weight of a child exceeds 20% the ideal weight (based on gender and height) of overweight if they exceed 10-20%. In some cases we are talking about super-obese: those children whose weight exceeds 40% of normal values.

In recent decades, the number of children with weight problems, in United States of America, and elsewhere in the ...