Obesity in Children: Being a Junk Food Junkie

Obesity in children: being a junk food junkie

Childhood obesity has become one of the most pressing health crises not only in Turkey but also around the world, a rapidly spreading phenomenon as eating and activity habits change.
Obesity, defined as a condition in which natural energy reserves, stored in the fatty tissue of humans and other mammals, are increased to at least 20 percent above normal weight.
In other words, if your child should weigh around 80 pounds to be in the healthy range and s/he weighs around 100 pounds, then s/he is obese.
Dr. Halil Coşkun of Şişli Etfal Education and Research Hospital said the number of obese children has increased considerably in Turkey as well as worldwide in recent years.
"Obese children and adolescents have shown an alarming increase in the last few years. As kids spend more time in front of television, computer and video screens, their physical activity levels decrease and their body weight increases. The number of overweight children has significantly increased in the last two to three decades. Obesity is currently an important health problem in our country," Coşkun said in a phone interview with Sunday's Zaman.
Although obesity is an individual clinical condition, it is being viewed increasingly as a serious and growing public health problem. Excessive body weight has been shown to predispose people to various diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea and osteoarthritis.
Turkish National Pediatric Society (TMPD) Secretary-General Professor Enver Hasanoğlu says childhood obesity is a serious disease and should be combated by proper preventative measures.
Hasanoğlu, in an interview with the NTV news station, cited energy imbalances, genes, metabolism, behavior, environment and culture as factors that play significant roles in obesity.
"Overweight and obesity are a result of energy imbalance over a long period of time. Individual behavior, environmental factors and genetics all contribute to the complexity of the obesity epidemic. Most parents believe their children will be healthier if they gain more weight," he says.
Coşkun agrees, adding that the choices a person makes in relation to eating and physical activity also contribute to overweight and obesity. "Behavior can also increase a person's risk for gaining weight," he says.
He stresses that overweight children and teens have been found to have risk factors for a chain of diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis and heart attack.
"Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder problems, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and respiratory problems and some cancers such as breast and colon cancer," Coşkun notes.
It is no coincidence that fast-food restaurants rapidly increase in number in neighborhoods where schools are situated.
"If you live near a school, you probably live near a fast-food restaurant," Coşkun says, asserting that such restaurants are deliberately built within walking distance of schools. Children's current levels of fast-food consumption are probably climbing even higher because of an increase in the number of fast-food restaurants and fast-food marketing since the late 1990s.
Emphasizing that an increase in physical activity could prevent child obesity in children, the TMPD’s Hasanoğlu calls on parents to urge their children to do more sports.
"Children who watch more than three hours of television a day are 50 percent more likely to be obese than kids who watch fewer than two hours. If a child is encouraged to be more active in social life, the risk of their becoming obese in the future significantly decreases," recommends Hasanoğlu.
Promises of a quick fix for obesity entice many overweight teens into trying diet pills or other anti-obesity drugs. But Coşkun stresses that there is no miracle pill for obesity.
"Many of the diet pills and weight-loss aids available on the market are at best ineffective -- and at worst, dangerous. Even if the product claims to be 'natural,' this doesn't necessarily mean it is safe," Coşkun says.
The method of obesity treatment depends on one's degree of overweight, overall health condition and motivation to lose weight. Treatment generally includes a combination of diet, exercise and behavior modification. Hasanoğlu said making physical activity a part of one's daily life is an important way to help control one's weight.
02.03.2008 (ed. Betül Akkaya)
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Dr. Halil Coşkun