Fat Consequences In Children

As the world battles with an epidemic that is proving difficult to manage and showing signs of becoming a costly affair, our children are getting caught in the cross fire. Adult onset diabetes, weight loss surgery and weight loss medication for children is not exactly what parent had in mind when planning for their posterity.

An article by Kids Health highlights some report that shows that as many as 45% of U.S children newly diagnosed with diabetes have Type 2. One of the main causes is pointing towards obesity in children and teens.

Type 2 diabetes was formally considered to occur exclusively in adults hence its previous long time name Adult Onset Diabetes, as opposed to Type 1 diabetes which was referred to as Juvenile Diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease whereby your body is unable to control glucose accordingly. This results to abnormal levels of blood sugar. In Type 2, the body is unable to respond to insulin, a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood stream. The condition is also known as insulin resistance.

Among adults it is an accompanying disease of obesity. 80% of obese individuals suffer from Type 2 diabetes. Similar trends seem to be creeping into children and teens. And why not, children are living a similar lifestyle as their parents. Infact obese and overweight children often are found in families were at least one parent is overweight or obese; yet another strong indicator that obesty is a lifestyle issue.

Andrew L. Young, Director of the Future of Children and other Economic studies programs projects of Brookings Institutions, laments of "screen-addicted recess-and-P.E deprived, parent-chauffeured children" who are living a lifestyle that is "dangerous to their health" in an article titled Let's get children moving toward a healthier future.

Statistics are not only grim in the U.S. In Canada child obesity cases are also on the increase. In 1978/79 only 3% of children 2-17 years were obese according to Canada Community Healthy Survey (CCHS). By 2004, the numbers had nearly tripled to 8%. The overweight had doubled from 14% to 29% as reported in The Daily. All this is attributed to lifestyles primarily diet and exercises

In U.K were the epidemic is raising, weight loss pills and weight loss surgery are being suggested for obese children! The National Institute for Health and Clinical Studies (NICE) is reported in the BBC News as proposing surgeries for physiologically mature kids and pills for the younger ones.

NICE is an independent organization in London that provides national guidance on the promotion of good health and prevention and treatment of ill health. It's a membership includes National Institute of Health (NIH U.K), healthcare professional and academicians.

Obesity is a multi-factorial condition that requires a holistic and long-term approach. It is this view organization like NICE and others of similar wide influence should really concentrate on for weight loss management. Though in the short term matters are really pressing, they should not lose sight of the long-haul. The permanent weight loss solution lays in the latter rather than the former.

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