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Obesity in children an ‘epidemic’

BY KEITH LACEY [email protected] One of Canada’s leading experts on childhood obesity says the problem has become “a worldwide epidemic” that must be addressed by health professionals or millions will continue to die far too young.
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BY KEITH LACEY
[email protected]

One of Canada’s leading experts on childhood obesity says the problem has become “a worldwide epidemic” that must be addressed by health professionals or millions will continue to die far too young.

“We’ve now reached an epidemic worldwide and this has serious implications for the health care industry,” said Dr. Brian McCrindle, an expert on childhood obesity.

McCrindle was a guest lecturer at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s (NOSM) monthly symposium series Thursday. He’s a professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto and a staff cardiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children. He recently authored a popular book called Get a Healthy Weight For Your Child: A Parent’s Guide to Better Eating and Exercise.

As many as 300,000 young Americans die each year as a direct result of being overweight, said McCrindle.

In the last 25 years, the number of children around the world who suffer from obesity has increased dramatically and the health-care industry is finally starting to realize the serious implications, said McCrindle.

“It’s happening at younger and younger ages,” he said. “We’re seeing more and more toddlers becoming overweight...it’s no longer just a North American problem, but it’s becoming more commonplace in countries like Japan and China. This is becoming a serious epidemic.

“If we (health care industry) don’t do something about this, the consequences are going to be alarming.”

Scientific studies indicate almost 80 percent of children who are obese become obese adults who will suffer serious health consequences, said McCrindle.

“They don’t grow out of their baby fat, which many parents rely on...it’s a fallacy,” he said.

Far too many medical profesionals still don’t consider childhood obesity as a serious problem, yet obese children are 500 times more likely to die from complications of extra weight than congenital heart disease, said McCrindle.

Obese children have astronomically higher rates of heart attack and stroke, Type 2 diabetes, abnormal blood sugar levels, hypertension, orthopedic complications and asthma. Many parents refuse to admit their chubby child could face a lifetime of health problems as a result, he said.

“There are serious quality of life consequences,” he said. “Parents are often the last to acknowledge their children are overweight...we’re entering a generation where many parents will outlive their (obese) children.”

Obese children often suffer from low self-esteem and many other psychological problems and are often bullied, he said.

The influence of popular culture has played a significant role in the rapid increase in childhood obesity over the past quarter century, he said.

A generation ago, most children would spend much of their free time engaging in physical activity with their friends or family outdoors, but many of today’s children spend long hours in front of a television or computer, he said.

“Technology has all but eliminated physical activity out of our lives...the advent of the escalator was the downfall of man,” he said.

Hundreds of years ago, most human beings were physically small because most of their time was spent hunting and gathering food, he said.

“It was a period of feast or famine...and there was low life expectancy,” he said.

With the development of agriculture over the centuries, humans gained access to stable food sources and nurtured a natural tendency to enjoy “dense calories” that are not healthy, he said.

When asked by a audience member if he approved of a tax on junk food, McCrindle said he wouldn’t oppose such an initiative if it would significantly reduce the amount of calories far too many children take in on a regular basis.

McCrindle urged the health-care community to start taking this issue more seriously, suggesting childhood obestiy has become one of the more pressing problems physicians have to deal with.

“Doctors can be advocates in promoting a healthy lifestyle,” he said. “We can influence government policy and school boards.”

Family physicians should encourage parents of obese children to formulate a plan to tackle the problem, he said.

“Don’t blame, but encourage,” he said. “The medical community has to realize...this must be fixed or our children and their children and society in general will suffer.”


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