Posts Tagged ‘children’s health’

Extreme obesity is affecting more children at a younger age, 7.3 percent of boys and 5.5 percent of girls are now classified as extremely obese, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of 710,949 children and teens that appears online in the Journal of Pediatrics. That means more than 45,000 extremely obese children were in this group. 

These numbers are taken of children from the ages of 2-19 years from a largely racially and ethnically diverse population, using the recent 2009 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extreme obesity definition.

Children’s Obesity Risk

Children’s obesity risk is greatest for this generation, and a threat to their health as they mature.

“Children who are extremely obese may continue to be extremely obese as adults, and all the health problems associated with obesity are in these children’s futures. Without major lifestyle changes, these kids face a 10 to 20 years shorter life span and will develop health problems in their twenties that we typically see in 40 – 60 year olds,” said study lead author Corinna Koebnick, PhD, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif. “For example, children who are extremely obese are at higher risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and joint problems, just to name a few.”

Obesity and Health 

“Our focus and concern is all about health and not about appearance. Children who are morbidly obese can do anything they want — they can be judges, lawyers, doctors — but the one thing they cannot be is healthy,” said study co-author Amy Porter, MD, a Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park pediatrician who leads the Pediatric Weight Management Initiative for Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Region.

“The most important advice to parents of extremely obese children is that this has to be addressed as a family issue. There is rarely one extremely obese kid in a house where everyone else is extremely healthy. It’s important that everyone in the family is invested in achieving a healthier lifestyle,” Porter said.

Obesity Head Start

What we are promoting in this country is a new head start program.This problem is not only growing, but it is starting at a younger and younger age. Numerous studies have shown that packing on the pounds during the infancy and toddler years put very young toddlers at risk to become obese adults. It has also been shown that the eating patterns that children are exposed to early on sets up preferences.

Obesity is Abuse

America is setting children up to develop diseases of aging at very young ages.

To halt the vicious cycle that comes from a life of unrestricted eating, nutritional intervention is needed. The body can only tolerate so much abuse before it starts to fail. How much more can Americans tolerate?

There are failures, deception, and cover ups that are making our food supply both addictive and dangerous. The danger that obesity poses to this generation is enormous. This is a generation that will be introduced to pharmaceuticals before they learn about healthy eating.

Children’s health in America is changing. The sustained energy that seems to last the whole day is part of childhood. We equate childhood with physical performance and vitality.

CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS

The rate of chronic health conditions among children in America has increased from 12.8% in 1994 to 26.6% in 2006, for conditions such as obesity, asthma and behavior/learning problems, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

SUGAR

A day filled with sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, maltodextin, and other odd sweeteners will change the playing field. Toxic artificial colors and sweeteners combine to take the octane out of childhood.

EPIGENETICS

The study of epigenetics tells a story. The not so good news is that there is sufficient evidence that adult lifestyle can change the health of their future children. The same bad behaviors that can shorten your life can predispose your offspring to the same health risks. This can happen before they are conceived.

DNA

Children’s health is a measure of your history. Taking extra measures to protect your health helps ensure healthy offspring. The message is loud and clear everyday choices affect future generations.

Your DNA may not be your destiny, but your health habits may be the foundation of your child’s future.

GENES

In a remote area of northern Sweden a tiny population revealed how genes work.

In a place called Norrbotten, in the 19^th century, peoples lives depended on the harvest. There were years in the 1800’s where there was total crop failure and famine. In other years in the same time period when crops were abundant and people were able to gorge themselves for months.

In the 1980’s, Dr Lars Olov Bygren, a preventive-health specialist who is at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, wondered what long term effects the feast and famine years might have had on children growing up in Norrbotten in the 19^th century. On them, on their offspring including their grandkids as well.

He took random sample of 99 individuals born in the Overkalix parish of Norrbotten in 1905 and used historical records to trace their parents and grandparents back to birth. By analyzing meticulous agricultural records, Byren and two colleagues determined how much food had been available to the parents and grandparents when they were young.

Bygren’s research showed that in Overkalix, boys who enjoyed those rare overabundant winters-kids who went from normal eating to gluttony in a single season –produced sons and grandsons who lived shorter lives. Bygren and his team controlled for certain socioeconomic variations, the difference in longevity was an astonishing 32 years. They also found significant drops in lifespan along the female line. This means the daughters and granddaughters of girls who went from a normal to a gluttonous diet also lived shorter lives.

Bygren showed that conditions in the womb affected the offspring’s health into adulthood. In 1986 Lancer published the first of two papers showing that if pregnant women ate poorly, her child would be at a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular disease

THE ANSWER

Bygren and other scientists have historical evidence that suggests powerful environmental conditions can leave an imprint on the genetic material in eggs and sperm. These genetic imprints can short-circuit evolution and pass along new traits in a single generation.

Patterns of how childhood chronic conditions have changed over time can be found in our lifestyles. The answer to obesity, asthma, behavior/learning problems, and metabolic syndrome has been found.

Childhood obesity affects health and that is critical when looking at this epidemic.

Obesity

Overweight children are at risk of developing adult conditions at a young age.

Genes

A parent’s job is to turn on their child’s longevity genes. This is done by neutralizing today’s lifestyle.

Parents

Parents have busy lifestyles, and it seems that fast food solutions are the norm. However, it can wind up being costly and time consuming in the long run. Sedentary children who consume a high junk food diet are not only on there way to developing atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure, they also will need prescriptive drugs at a younger age.

We can go on and on about the culture’s influence on eating habits which are seen on TV network advertisements in the form of junk food ads. 

As a result of all these influences one in three children is overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Facts

The fact is overweight children are at risk of developing serious and costly health conditions that are usually seen in middle aged adults. The Center For Disease Control (C.D.C.) study found that 22 percent of overweight (and 43 percent of obese) young people had, abnormal blood lipid levels with high triglycerides, a known risk factor for heart disease.

If this is our culture’s way to save time and money by fast food purchases they are making a big mistake. This is the junk food generation that can bankrupt our nation. 

The fact is obesity is expensive, for the parent, child, and country.

Intervention

Intervention has to begin in the home. The food manufactures don’t have the incentive that the family has. For the faux food industry it is all about profit. For the family it is about raising healthy children. That means making wise choices about what is served at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. What goes on the grocery list and the table is one of the most important elements in your child’s life.

Comprehensive weight-loss programs for children are scarce. It is up to parents to begin their own intervention program. Making changes are not expensive and pay off big time.

“The family is the underutilized weapon in the fight against childhood obesity,” said Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Get Nutritional Advice

To change your family’s food habits, get good nutritional advice. The reason that this has become a learning process is because of all the misinformation put out for public consumption.

Children will tend to mimic what they see the adults around them do. This means to be a good role model includes what you stock your pantry with. The food industry is not as interested in your children’s health, as it is in successful ad campaigns. It is wise and prudent to seek the counsel of someone well versed in nutrition.

It is next to impossible for children to change eating habits if the rest of family is not changing their way of eating. When children eat better they have more energy for activities that are part of a healthy lifestyle.

A Child’s Health Begins with the Parent

That is why the L.E.A.N. Start Program is so effective. The parents go thought the learning process with the child, in an interactive and fun way.  This program was developed by one of the most highly respected pediatricians in America, Dr. William Sears.

Kathy Bee is a nutrition/lifestyle educator who is a certified coach for the L.E.A.N Start Program.