Obesity in children

In today’s world, childhood obesity is becoming a growing concern. A growing number of children are dealing with weight problems at an early age, which can cause major health issues down the road.

Childhood obesity is caused by a variety of factors, such as a poor diet, inactivity, and even heredity. To effectively address the issue, it is imperative to comprehend these factors.

Communities, schools, and parents are all crucial in assisting kids in maintaining a healthy weight. Together, we can help our children develop healthier habits and a more wholesome environment.

Causes of Childhood Obesity	Effects of Childhood Obesity
Poor diet and high sugar intake	Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
Lack of physical activity	Higher chance of developing heart disease
Genetic factors	Lower self-esteem and social challenges
Excessive screen time	Joint and bone problems
Emotional eating due to stress	Increased risk of depression and anxiety

When talking about obesity?

A pathological condition in which weight changes in the positive direction and exceeds normal age indicators by more than 15% is called obesity. Many specialists use a parameter such as body mass index to establish a diagnosis. This is the ratio of height in meters to double weight in kg. Body mass index is expressed in absolute numbers. If it exceeds 30, it indicates that the child is obese. Obesity can develop at any age: both in newborns and in adolescents. According to statistics, obesity is somewhat more common in girls under 8 years of age than in boys. However, after puberty, this ratio changes. Often, parents of newborn babies confuse obesity and large body size.

It is not justified to diagnose obesity in a child if their birth weight is above average.

Children who are obese reside in various nations. Economically developed nations have a greater population of them than developing ones. This characteristic is mostly brought on by overindulging in food, insufficient exercise, and fast food addiction. Compared to Europe and America, there are many times fewer overweight children in Asia. This is because the Asian menu does not feature many products that are high in saturated fats, which is a result of historical food cultures.

The incidence rates are growing every year. This trend is quite unfavorable. Two out of ten children in Russia are obese. In the countries of the former Soviet Union, the incidence rate is also increasing every year. Approximately 15% of children living in Belarus and Ukraine suffer from obesity of varying degrees. In rural areas, there are slightly fewer children who have problems with excess weight. This feature is largely due to greater physical activity than in the city, as well as high-quality nutrition, which does not contain numerous chemical additives and preservatives. According to statistics, obesity is registered in 10% of cases among city children. For rural small residents, this figure is lower – about 6-7%.

The onset of the disease in childhood is extremely unfavorable. Many parents believe that excess weight only decorates the child and makes him cute, however, they are mistaken. It is from an early age that babies begin to form eating habits. After all, you have probably noticed that from the first months of life, a child has his own taste preferences. Some children love porridge and chicken, and someone cannot live without eating a sweet fruit. Little sweet tooths can be identified from a very early age. If parents at this time reward each achievement of the child with a candy or a sweet high-calorie cookie, then subsequently the baby will develop improper eating behavior. During the rest of his life, he will be pathologically drawn to sweets and chocolate. Moreover, an adult will no longer be able to find any logical explanation for this.

Pediatric endocrinologists handle the diagnosis and treatment of a range of weight issues. Obesity poses a risk because it can cause long-lasting problems with the way many important organs function. Children then experience severe metabolic disorders, chronic gastrointestinal diseases, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular problems. Early diagnosis of the illness and diet noncompliance are factors in the disease’s progression.

Causes

• Overeating. Daily excess of the caloric content of the daily diet contributes to the oversaturation of the body with various nutrients. It begins to store all the excess in reserve. Ultimately, this leads to the fact that the child develops pathological obesity.

• Excessive consumption of sweets. Such fast carbohydrates are very dangerous. Once they enter the body, they begin to be absorbed already in the oral cavity. The glucose (regular sugar) contained in such sweets quickly leads to hyperglycemia (increased blood sugar levels). In order to normalize blood sugar levels, the body secretes a huge amount of insulin and hyperinsulinemia occurs. This condition is fraught with the fact that all excess sweets are deposited in special fat depots – adipocytes, which contributes to the development of obesity.
• Insufficient physical activity. Active movements are required to burn excess calories received with food. Kids who eat a lot of high-calorie or sweet foods, but do not attend sports clubs and spend most of their time at home with a tablet or phone – are at risk for the possible development of obesity. The balance between incoming calories and their utilization ensures the maintenance of normal weight at any age.

• Heredity. Scientists have found that 85% of parents who have problems with excess weight have children who also have problems with excess weight. For a long time, experts believed that there was an “obesity gene”. However, there is no scientific evidence to date. Most likely, in families where family members have developed obesity, poor eating habits have developed. In this case, high-calorie nutrition leads to weight problems in both adults and children.
• Chronic diseases. Various pathologies of the pituitary gland, adrenal glands, and thyroid gland lead to severe metabolic disorders. Usually, such diseases are accompanied by multiple adverse symptoms. Excess weight is only one of their clinical manifestations. To eliminate obesity in this case, you cannot do without treating the underlying disease.

• High birth weight. If a newborn baby weighs more than 4 kg, then this is a significant risk factor in his future life for the formation of excess body weight. In this case, it leads not to a large weight at birth, but a further overfeeding of the child. Low physical activity only aggravates the development of the disease.
• Severe emotional stress. More and more scientists say that various "eating habits" lead to the development of weight disorders. This condition is more common in teenagers. Excessive workload at school, first unrequited love, lack of friends causes a child to have a strong desire to "relieve" stress with a chocolate bar or candy. In children aged 5-7, the development of this type of obesity is often caused by a painful divorce of parents or moving to a new place of residence.

Sometimes a number of different factors combine to cause the disease. Reduced physical activity in conjunction with eating disorders is always the main factor contributing to the baby gaining excess weight.

In this situation, parents should intervene as gently as possible. Because you love and care about your child so much, you should demonstrate to him that you are on his side and are making an effort to assist.

Classification

The disease manifests itself in various clinical forms. This had an impact on the development of multiple classifications that highlight the primary forms of obesity while accounting for certain characteristics. Physicians require these nosological groups in order to make a diagnosis and select the most appropriate course of treatment.

Typically, all age-specific normal weight indicators are gathered into a unique centile table. You can use this document to find the approximate body weight norm for children of various ages and genders. These tables are the first choice for all pediatricians when determining whether a given child exhibits symptoms of obesity. Compliance with centiles 25, 50, and 75 is the standard. A child is considered obese if his or her weight falls between 90.97 and higher centiles.

Physicians distinguish between various clinical manifestations of the illness:

• Primary. It can be exogenous-constitutional and alimentary. In case of eating disorders and problems with nutrition, they talk about food (alimentary) obesity. If the baby has some constitutional features and hereditary traits, then this is an exogenous-constitutional variant. Obesity is treated in this case by prescribing therapeutic nutrition and with the obligatory selection of optimal loads.
• Secondary. Also called symptomatic. This type of obesity is characteristic of many chronic diseases that cause severe metabolic disorders. In girls, this condition occurs with various ovarian diseases, and in boys mainly with thyroid pathology. Treatment of excess weight in these situations is impossible without eliminating the causes of the underlying disease. The correct tactics of therapy necessarily include a complex of treatments for all chronic diseases that are the main cause of obesity.

Pediatric endocrinologists can pinpoint several risky developmental stages when a child’s likelihood of becoming obese is at its highest. Ages up to three, five to seven, and puberty (12 to 16 years old) are some examples. Parents should closely monitor their child’s appearance during this time. If the infant exhibits symptoms of being overweight, you should speak with a pediatrician about the issue.

Additionally, there is a classification based on the extent of excess weight. A. A. Gayvoronskaya made the proposal. This classification can be used to categorize obesity into multiple groups based on the quantitative excess weight over normal indicators.

This division distinguishes between various degrees of the disease:

• Obesity of the 1st degree. In this case, the weight exceeds 15-24% of the age-related norm.
• Obesity of the 2nd degree. The excess of body weight over normal indicators is 25-49%.
• Obesity of the 3rd degree. The excess of body weight over normal indicators is 50-99%.
• Grade 4 obesity. Excess body weight over the norm is over 100%.

Appearance

A child who is overweight has a noticeable change in appearance. The subcutaneous fat stores extra fat. Its layer is typically moderately expressed. The thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer increases as a result of the size and volume increase of fat cells, or adipocytes, associated with obesity. The abdomen, the outside of the arms and legs, and the buttocks and thighs are the areas where it accumulates the most.

There are distinct variations in the distribution of subcutaneous fat during puberty. Therefore, in girls, the lower half of the body—the hips and buttocks—is where the most extra weight accumulates. This kind of obesity is also known as "Grushevid" because the lower body’s volume increases more than the upper half.

Obesity by "apple" type is another term for obesity in men. In this instance, the extra weight gain is mostly concentrated in the abdomen. The disease in question is responsible for the child’s excessively rounded body structure and the disappearance of the waist. Infants appear consistently plump, sometimes even too plump.

The thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer in the face and neck increases with 2-3 degrees of obesity. The baby’s appearance changes as a result of this. In addition to having adorable plump cheeks, he also seems to have a shorter neck. At four degrees of obesity, the eye slits get a little smaller. The child starts to look sick and inspires compassion rather than fondness.

Obesity in children is a developing concern that can impact their physical and mental health and raise their chance of developing health problems like diabetes and heart disease in the future. This article examines the factors that contribute to childhood obesity, such as a poor diet, inactivity, and environmental influences, and provides actionable advice for parents and other caregivers on how to help their children develop healthier habits and avoid obesity becoming a lifetime problem.

Main symptoms

Not only does obesity alter a child’s appearance, but it also brings on a number of negative symptoms. Children who are ill often have elevated blood pressure, rapid heartbeats, lowered resistance to exercise, headaches, and dyspnea. A child may develop metabolic syndrome by adolescence if they have been obese for a long time. Persistent hyperinsulinemia is the cause of this dangerous condition. It is risky because it can result in diabetes and a number of cardiovascular conditions.

When obesity develops in school-age individuals, a number of negative symptoms manifest. For instance, children find it harder to focus when learning new material, become fatigued easily, exhibit daytime sleepiness, and become slower. For an adolescent, public opinion is extremely important.

Children who are obese frequently struggle greatly with communication and find it difficult to make new friends. As a result, the teenager begins to feel unwelcome and uncommunicative, even with his parents and other close associates.

In the event that obesity is secondary, the child experiences other, more serious symptoms in addition to being overweight. Teenage girls who suffer from ovarian pathologies may exhibit the following clinical symptoms: excessive body hair growth, acne, severe hair loss, irregular menstruation, excessive oiliness, and increased susceptibility to pustular inflammations. Adolescent boys who experience secondary obesity due to pituitary or reproductive system pathologies may experience conditions like underdevelopment of the external genitalia, gynecomastia (enlargement of the breast glands), and cryptorchidism.

Respiratory issues are a result of severe obesity. Subcutaneous fat accumulation in the chest and abdomen causes the diaphragm to become severely compressed. A child with this condition develops apnea. While you sleep, this pathological condition takes place. Breathing pauses are a characteristic of it, and they play a role in the development of oxygen starvation of vital organs.

Carrying too much weight puts a lot of strain on the musculoskeletal system. The baby finds it much harder to walk and move around. By the time the disease reaches its advanced stages, the child is not even able to move normally. The infant experiences muscle weakness and joint pain when walking. As a result, the child spends more time at home and goes for fewer walks outside.

Complications and consequences

Negative long-term effects result from a disease’s protracted course. Obesity in children increases the risk of developing neurological, orthopedic, and cardiovascular diseases. The inability to conceive and severe difficulties in bearing children in adulthood are caused by persistent disorders in the reproductive system.

The majority of pathological fractures also occur in obese individuals. In this instance, the musculoskeletal system’s organs are under a great deal of pressure due to excess weight, which results in bone fragility. Statistics show that boys who are obese as children frequently experience different types of foot anatomical abnormalities. This may result in the development of hallux valgus and flat feet.

A child’s altered eating habits increase the risk of developing a number of chronic gastrointestinal disorders. The most prevalent ones are irritable bowel syndrome, enterocolitis, cholelithiasis with the development of calculous cholecystitis, and chronic gastritis and pancreatitis.

In children, these pathologies frequently progress from acute to chronic. As a result, the child receives a prescription for drugs that they must take constantly for the rest of their lives.

Diagnostics

Parents frequently ignore the fact that their child is obese. particularly if the youngster is in preschool. They find it endearing. Many parents think that by adolescence, all of the symptoms will go away on their own. It does happen occasionally. But they harm the child in the process.

Childhood is a crucial time in one’s life. The infant forms all of his foundational routines and behavioural patterns during this time, which will serve him well into adulthood. Childhood is also when eating habits are formed. After that, everyone’s taste preferences last a lifetime.

When a baby becomes accustomed to consuming fast food or excessively fatty and fried food, it may eventually become ingrained in him as a persistent eating habit. It will be very difficult for him to turn down such products as an adult. From a young age, you should closely monitor your diet to prevent this.

You should definitely take the baby to the doctor for a consultation if the child exhibits any signs of obesity. A specialist will be able to determine the etiology of the illness, recommend to parents the necessary course of therapy, and order a series of tests to detect secondary obesity.

As a disease, obesity necessitates close observation and treatment.

Taking care of childhood obesity is essential for kids’ long-term health and wellbeing. Families are essential in encouraging good habits and making wiser decisions in day-to-day activities.

Fostering a healthy relationship between children and food and exercise can be achieved through promoting balanced diets and consistent physical activity. Over time, little adjustments to one’s way of life can have a big effect.

Together, parents, educators, and communities can establish healthy environments that help kids live longer, healthier lives and avoid future obesity-related problems.

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