Table of contents:
- Obesity in children has appeared from an early age
- Why can child obesity occur?
- Come on, apply this method to prevent child obesity!
Many think that fat kids are cute. Yes, most parents think that obesity is okay if it occurs in children, after all, it will change when growing up. Even though such a view is wrong, you know. The current nutritional status of children determines what their nutritional status will be as an adult. Even childhood obesity can occur from childhood.
Obesity in children has appeared from an early age
Most people usually think that weight as a child will have no effect on body size as an adult. Because after all, body size can still change over time. Whether it's from fat to thin, thin to fat, even fat to obese.
In fact, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the majority of the nutritional status group of children aged 5 years, for example those classified as thin, normal, or obese, will remain in that nutritional status group until they are 15-18. year.
This means that children with body weight classified as obese will still have an obese body until the age of 15-18 years. Likewise with a thin, normal, and fat body. Interestingly, Antje Körner, MD, from the University of Leipzig, Germany, and colleagues who researched obesity in children got the main "benchmark".
The 2-6 year age range appears to be an important period, during which about 50 percent of children who are overweight are able to reach their normal body weight as adolescents. Meanwhile, about 90 percent of children at the same age as body weight are obese, still stick with the "stamp" of obesity until adolescence.
Why can child obesity occur?
According to the researchers, childhood obesity experienced in adolescence is actually a "seed" that develops since children are 2-6 years old. These seeds will continue to follow as the child grows until they enter adolescence.
Have an investigation, weight at birth is one of the risk factors for childhood obesity that will continue to develop into adolescence, even adulthood. This is certainly different from children of the same age with low or stable weight, who rarely experience obesity as adolescents.
In this study, approximately 44 percent of children born with large birth weight tended to be overweight or obese as adolescents.
On the other hand, genetic factors from the weight of the mother and father as well as the child's irregular diet, also contribute to the most common causes of obesity in children.
Come on, apply this method to prevent child obesity!
Antje Körner, as one of the researchers, advised parents to take proper precautions so that children's weight does not increase dramatically with age.
Reporting from the Healthline page, here are some steps you can try as early as possible to prevent obesity in children:
- Providing exclusive breastfeeding is considered to help balance energy supplies as well as fat storage in the baby's body.
- Introduce children to a variety of important and healthy nutrients for the body since childhood.
- Teach children to adjust the portion of snacks and daily meals according to the rules, so that they are not too much or too little.
- Limit eating fast food if the child likes it.
- Pay attention to what foods children eat outside the home.
- Encourage children and other family members to exercise regularly, at least once a week.
In essence, apply a healthy lifestyle for all members of your family, not just your children. That way, children will be more eager to start living their healthy lifestyle.
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