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Pediatrics - March '08
Fighting childhood obesity
Joan R. Griffith, MD
Childhood obesity is quickly becoming an epidemic in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 80 percent of overweight children carry that extra baggage with them into adulthood. Packing on excess pounds is common and has been increasing since 1980. A staggering 18.8 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds are overweight.
“The good news is, childhood obesity is preventable and we can work together to change these statistics,” says Joan Griffith, MD, chief of general academic pediatrics at The University of Toledo Medical Center.
For children, a “Body Mass Index (BMI) age and sex specific percentile” is used to track weight. A normal weight is less than the 85th percentile. A child between the 85th and 95th percentile is at risk for obesity, while children over the 95th percentile are considered obese. “A commonly held belief is that our kids will outgrow their accumulated weight,” Dr. Griffith says. “The reality is that we need to take a hard look at our children because once they become obese, it is extremely difficult to lose that weight.”
Health risks
“We see many of the same health consequences with childhood obesity that we see in adults,” says Dr. Griffith. They can include:
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Sleep disorders, such as snoring or sleep apnea
- Asthma
- Type II diabetes
- Increased pain in the hips as well as pain and bowing of the legs
- Psychological and social implications
Enforcing healthy habits
Eating healthy foods and increasing physical activity are vital to staying healthy. “Kids should be gaining five pounds each year and eight pounds during their adolescent growth spurts,” Dr. Griffith says. “It’s easy for kids to gain more when we are bombarded with convenient foods that are high in sugar and low in nutritional value,” she adds. Although this food is often tasty, Dr. Griffith takes an everything-in-moderation approach for junk and fatty foods. “You can have a slice of cake, but cut down on the size,” she says.
Food preparation can also add to the problem. Instead of frying food, bake, grill or broil it. “Education is the key,” Dr. Griffith says. “We all need to learn portion sizes. A serving of spaghetti is not the whole plate, and a child’s portion is not the same as an adult’s.” In order to make healthy foods more appealing to children, try adding a little peanut butter on fruit or low-fat shredded cheese to vegetables.
As a recommendation for increasing physical activity, Dr. Griffith says everyone should be taking 15,000 steps a day, and a pedometer can track your mileage. “See how many steps the family can take each day,” she says. “Now set a realistic goal, such as increasing your steps by 10 percent every other day.” Even for sedentary children, it’s not too late to start exercising. Dr. Griffith suggests the following activities for children:
- Take a family walk before or after dinner.
- Make exercise a game by seeing how many pushups or sit-ups you can do during commercials.
- See how many times you can run up and down the stairs. Try to beat yourself.
- Go outside and play neighborhood games, such as tag or kickball.
- Go to a local recreation center as a family to play basketball or work out.
In order to tackle childhood obesity, people must be aware of the calories they are consuming. Our bodies store extra calories as fat. “To stop the storing of fat is to stop obesity,” Dr. Griffith says. This includes changing the way we eat and our level of activity. “It’s a community effort and we need to ensure that everyone has access to safe and affordable means for increasing physical activity,” she adds.
For more information on childhood obesity or to schedule an appointment with a university-quality pediatrician, call 877-451-2299.
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