Obesity In Children And Teens Is A Growing Epidemic

This is a trend that has been watched carefully by researchers and professionals since the 1980s. Children, pre-teens and teens have been steadily gaining more weight, and the health implications are enormous. A plethora of research and study has been performed in the last twenty-plus years. One thing we know for certain, however, is that obesity that happens when kids are still young carries with it serious risk factors for major diseases later on. The most important thing parents need to realize is that there is quite a lot more to this particular story. Kids who are clinically obese are going to have to deal with health problems long before they become adults.

The particular medical conditions that any young person, child or teen who is obese will experience can be highly variable. There are many influences, some of which will be genetic in nature. Kids and teens who suffer from severe obesity are more likely to develop a variety of conditions that cause problems for joints and bones. Lots of the time, problems that are connected to the load bearing joints are the first to show up. Stress on the skeleton is particularly prevalent in the hips, knees, feet and ankles. Typically the kids will experience joint pain in their backs as well as constant low but steady pressure filled swelling around all of their joints. These kids also are commonly diagnosed with arthritis.

One of the oldest expressions around is that kids and children can be cruel to each other. Perhaps most of us have experienced that truism when we were younger. Obese kids are far more likely to be targets of this particular type of cruelty. The fact that most of the kids survive all of those years of school without losing their minds is a miracle. We all know that such a chronic level of abuse can lead to long term problems. The constant verbal assaults will have a tremendous impact in areas such as self esteem, confidence and the list goes on.

There are a few reasons as to why the prospects do not seem very clear for an obese child. The fact that a young person is obese is actually a serious risk factor for a laundry list of health problems and diseases as an adult. What about being able to reverse this condition?

Well, studies show that obese teenagers are sixteen times more prone to developing into severely obese adults. For those teens, this is clearly not a good thing. Because the risk factors are developed at an early age, they are likely to have a very poor quality of life as an adult. Early onset obesity is a real problem that affects even those who do not suffer from it. You should also think about this in terms of the cost it puts on society. Kids who are obese are probably going to grow up into adults who are obese and that means that they will have to deal with things like medical costs, etc. So this really is a social problem even though that is not at the forefront of awareness.

Uppingham School

Source: http://lmaa50th.co.uk/obesity-in-children-and-teens-is-a-growing-epidemic/

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