Posts Tagged ‘health problems’

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.