Causes and Ways to Reduce Obesity in Children: Now obesity is not just a condition. It has been named a disease. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics has updated the guidelines after seeing the increasing rate of children becoming obese in India. According to which obesity will now be called a disease. This definition will apply to adults also, but the basis of this definition has been made on the health of children.
Obesity increasing in children
According to the National Family Health Survey 5 conducted in the year 2020, 3.5 percent of children under 5 years of age in India are obese. This is an increase of 50 percent compared to the data of National Family Health Survey 4 conducted five years earlier in 2015. Obesity among teenagers is found in 16 percent of children. According to some studies, obesity in India has increased 24 times in the last 2 to 3 decades.
Waist circumference should be this much
According to America's Center for Disease Control, waist circumference in children should be half the height. If the roundness is more than this then such children will be considered obese. For example, if the height of the child is 120 centimeters i.e. 4 feet, then his waist circumference should be less than 60 centimeters i.e. less than 24 inches.
51 percent children of Delhi are unhealthy
According to the survey of Sports Village Schools conducted across the country in 2021, more than 51 percent of the children of Delhi are unhealthy. Whereas in the year 2020, the number of children suffering from obesity in Delhi was 50 percent. The condition of two other cities of the country, Bangalore and Chennai, is worse than Delhi, where this figure is 53%.
Apart from junk food and distance from sports, now mobile phones are also responsible for obesity. According to a recent survey by a mobile phone company, 83% children feel that mobile phones are an integral part of their life, whereas in the same survey, 91% children believe that they enjoy more if they talk to their parents face to face. Comes. Children are spending an average of 6.5 hours on the phone. This means that he is sitting idle all this time and is giving his time to his mobile for playing sports.
Junk food is promoting obesity
Some parents are so serious about the health of their children that they are paying attention to their height and weight from the first year of birth, but before the children have grown up, they stay away from home food and become closer to junk food.
In India, obesity among small children has started increasing so much that now the Indian Academy of Pediatrics has placed obesity in the category of a disease. The reason for this is also clear, obese children are becoming victims of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease in their youth. Therefore, it is important to catch the disease of obesity in its early stages.
Relationship with mobile instead of sports
Dr. Ayush Gupta, researcher at the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, says that junk food is the biggest reason for increasing obesity in children.
The changing eating habits in India have made adults as well as children its victims. The second major reason is to stay away from sports and do less exercise. The third major reason is the continuously increasing screen time.
According to pediatrician Dr. Saurabh Kataria, it has been observed in studies that children often eat more than their hunger while watching mobile or TV, which becomes the cause of obesity. They say that compared to Western countries, people living in Asian countries are more likely to suffer from obesity, hence it is important to identify the disease of obesity in young children.
Obesity can prove costly
In the initial stages, obesity can be reduced by eating food low in fat and carbohydrates, but if obesity increases, it may require medication and in very serious cases, surgery may also be required.
Photo Credits:Google
