iblog

Kayleigh: The government has proposed that parents might be told if their child is obese at a young age in a bid to tackle childhood obesity. Almost a third of children are now overweight, and this situation doesn’t look to be getting any better, with experts predicting that half of the UK will be obese in 25 years.

According to Louise Diss, Operational Director of The Obesity Awareness and Solutions Trust (TOAST), obese children are more at risk of developing serious long term life threatening illnesses, “The possible medical dangers for obese children include type two diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and coronary heart disease. Other dangers also include malnutrition, kidney and liver problems”, she said.
But the medical risks are not the only problem. Louise says children suffer in other ways too. She said: “Psychologically, obese children can suffer from depression and anxiety, and can suffer from low self esteem and feel low self worth. Children may also be bullied because of their size, or alternatively they may become the bully.” It can also seriously have an impact on their future lifestyles. According to the School Food Trust, overweight or obese teenagers tend to leave education earlier, and once they become adults are likely to earn an average household income of £3,500 less than individuals of a healthy weight. They are also 20% less likely to marry.

So why are so many children becoming obese at such a young age? Obesity is caused because of an unhealthy diet, which is mainly made up of sugar and fats, and not doing enough exercise to burn off the calories consumed. But it’s not just a case of eating too many sweets and cakes. A lot of the time it is down to family lifestyle. These days, it’s all too easy to order fast food or eat a ready meal at home, with parents not having the time to cook a dinner from scratch. The problem with this is these “ready meals” are full of salt and can be seriously bad for you long term. However, getting the portion size right is also a big factor, as parents need to remember that children do not need as much calories as adults do, in fact the government recommends they need around 1700 calories a day, compared with 2000 for women and 2500 for men. Louise Diss says this isn’t the only reason why children become obese. “Less family time and less family activity and a more sedentary lifestyle can all lead to obesity. However food may also be used as a control, for example as a reward or punishment. Parents may also give children what they want to eat in order to have a quiet life. Food however can also be used as a comfort in times of stress and anxiety” she said. Parents seem to be a big factor in childhood obesity, as children with two obese parents statistically have an 80% chance of being obese themselves.

The rise in obesity has also had a knock on effect on other factors too. Reports from the BBC show the NHS is seriously struggling with the costs of obesity, and it was made one of the key priorities in the 2004 public health white paper. Research published in the British Medical Journal stated that obesity could actually bankrupt the NHS, showing the severity of the epidemic.
The government are attempting to tackle the problem though. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced last year that it would spend £220 million on rebuilding school kitchens until March 2008 since Jamie Oliver began his school dinner campaign in 2005. Practical cooking lessons and tuition about healthy eating were also made compulsory for 11-14 year olds. Other things are also being done. New government guidelines released by Education Secretary Alan Johnson last year meant that schools could only serve pupils chips twice a week. They also had to give them at least two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal they had. Low quality meat products, fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate and other confectionery were also banned from the school canteen in a bid to make children eat healthier.

Food labelling has also been introduced recently, with food organisations having to provide calorie and salt information on their products. Junk food adverts were also band around the time of children’s programs earlier this year.

There are also other ways to tackle obesity. At current, there are weight loss drugs available that are mainly anophetamine based. These drugs increase the amount of noradrenaline and dopamine hormones in the blood, lowering hunger levels. However, weight loss drugs are not suitable for long term use as the side effects can include high blood pressure, anxiety and restlessness.

However, the simple solution to tackling obesity is the simple way, to do more exercise and eat a healthier balanced diet. The problem is this seems to be easier said then done, as only 51% of obese people manage to keep their weight down when they try. However, more realistic expectations of weight loss can help make the change permanent.