In my last post, I defined childhood obesity and gave you all some
vital statistics on childhood obesity in America. This post is all about
the health effects of obesity during childhood. And just to give you an idea of how the childhood obesity rate has changed over the year, I have added the chart below. In just 25 years, the percentage of children with a BMI of 30 or greater has went from 7% of 6-11 year-old children to 15.3%. For children ages 12-19, the percentage went from 5% to 15.5%! These numbers seem highly accurate once you look at the the activities of the youth from the 70s and 80s to what the youth is doing today.....which is usually video games, watching television, and/or on the internet/cellphones.
Childhood obesity has not only immediate health and well-being effects on children, but also long-term effects. Some of the immediate effects are:
- Greater risk for cardiovascular disease i.e high cholesterol or high blood pressure.
- Obese children and adolescents are at a much higher risk of developing prediabetes.
- These children have a greater chance of having joint and bone density problems, as well as having low self esteem, depression, and sleep apnea.
Here are some of the long-term effects:
- Children and adolescents who are obese now are more than likely to be obese adults. In turn, they increase their chances of developing adult health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, some cancers, and osteoarthritis.
- Those who are overweight and obese increase their risk of developing many types
of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium,
esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and
prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
So, if that isn't enough to frighten you, I guess I better keep posting!! But seriously, the youth of America needs to get outside and play as well as eat healthy snacks and kick the fast food habit!!
