Childhood Obesity
There seems to have been a lack of conversation about childhood obesity over the years. My interest in this has been peaked during the Covid-19 times, as I watch the frustration of parents whose children have lost so much. Children are the least likely to be affected by Covid-19 but collectively have been one of the hardest hit with restrictions that prevent them from attending school, seeing friends and participating in team indoor and outdoor sports. For many, they are left to their own devices and imagination to try and stay busy, which has resulted in many turning to technology rather than exercise.
Obesity in children has been a decade’s long problem and we haven’t found a solution.
OBESITY: a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body (Webster’s Dictionary)
OVERWEIGHT: weight over and above what is required or allowed (Webster’s Dictionary)
Obesity is determined by the Body Mass Index (BMI) standard and is used to determine if someone is at a healthy, over or under body weight.
The Canadian national average is as follows:
· 28.9% of children and youth are overweight
· 63.1% of adults are overweight or obese
o 26.8% of adults are obese
o 56.7% of females are overweight or obese
o 69.4% of males are overweight or obese
Below I have created an Empathy Map. I have divided it up between comments from parents and children. The parents are in the squares and the children are in the circles.
Below is a chart by the American Council on Exercise to show what the optimal body fat level should be. This does not include children but I refer to it, as overweight and obese children will most likely become overweight and obese adults.
So, where did the problem of obesity begin? In reviewing studies, I found a study on the BMI of WWII soldiers. Coming out the WWII and into the 1950’s, the BMI of people began to increase. The question is why? The war had ended and the economy had become more stable. This generation had lived through the great depression where food and jobs were scarce and now the socioeconomics had begun to improve.
Even though the BMI had begun to increase, it was not until the 1970’s, where there was a notable increase in the obesity levels of both adults and children. In 1978 and 1979, approximately one in four children (23.3%) were either overweight or obese and that quickly accelerated closer to one in three (31.4%) children. According to a study conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada, 1 out of every 7 children are now obese.
“Although objectively measured estimates of excess weight among children and youth have doubled over the past four decades, measures of childhood obesity have remained stable over the last 10 years.” (NCBI)
The problem: Childhood obesity in Canada is at epidemic proportions.
How Might We reduce childhood obesity. I used the 5 Whys Worksheet, to use for this question. Meaning what questions are going through the minds of children and parents.
What is the Human Centred Design required of society that will allow for positive changes and encourage the next generation to be more aware and proactive towards a healthier lifestyle and reduce their chance of obesity.
Root Cause lack of exercise: There is a lack of understanding about the benefits of exercise and a lack of knowledge on what children can do for exercise.
How Might We better understand how to incorporate exercise into family time and at school.
According to the Center of Disease Control, children 3–5 years should be active throughout the day and children between 6–17 years need 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous intense activity each day.
This is achieved through:
a. Aerobic Activity: at least 3 times per week, they should be walking, running or anything that makes the heart beat faster
b. Muscle-Strengthening: at least 3 times per week, they should be doing some type of climbing or push-ups, typically using their own body weight to exercise
c. Bone-Strengthening: at least 3 times per week, they should be running, jumping, skipping where there is some type of resistance
What we do know:
· There are multiple factors that affect obesity such as age, sex, socioeconomic status and where you live.
· The rate of obesity declines in the household as the rate of education increases and when at least one person has completed post-secondary education.
· Healthier weights are associated with those households with higher incomes and households with lower incomes experience a higher risk of obesity.
· As technology and automation become more user friendly, it takes on more of the work roles that people would have typically done.
· Since the depression in the 1930’s, more people have moved to the cities and are less active, rather than staying in the rural areas and working on the land.
· Studies suggest there is evidence that obese children may not live as long as their parents.
· Katherine Flegal at the National Centre for Health Statistics in Hyattsville Maryland challenges this stating, that obesity has a large influence on other diseases and as a precursor, obese children will outlive their parents. With obesity there will be more symptoms and they will be screened earlier and more frequently. Those who are overweight will be 6% less likely to die than those who are of a healthy weight;
o The caveat being that they may live longer but their quality of life may not be as good.
· 74% of children between the ages of 5–10 years are getting less than one hour of physical exercise per day;
o 42% of parents were surveyed and stated technology; social media, computer games and cell phones had a large influence in the lack of exercise.
o 41% of those surveyed, said their children exercised only once per week for less than 60 minutes a day.
o 38% said the extracurricular activities have become too expensive.
What we do know: Most overweight and obese children transition into adulthood with an increased chance of being overweight or obese. Childhood obesity in Canada is at epidemic proportions.
Root Cause of not eating healthy meals: Parents are not providing healthy food choices because they do not have the time, do not understand nutrition or cannot afford the food.
How Might We learn about nutrition for children.
The Canada Food Guide provides guidance. It focusses on fruits, vegetables, some meats but mostly alternate proteins. Meat is an easy source of protein, easily digestible and smaller amounts provide a great deal of energy. A diet with large amounts of fruits and vegetables may not meet the body’s requirements and may be difficult to consume.
What we do know: Ninety percent of “all human allergies can be traced back to seven foods: milk, eggs, nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat and soya bean products.”
Food for thought, eating more meat, as it provides:
· Vitamin B12, an essential nutrient and almost exclusively found in animal sourced foods
· Creatine: this is an energy reserve for muscle cells and provides greater strength and endurance
· Carnosine: an antioxidant and important for muscle function
· Vitamin D3: Deficiencies are linked to: “osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, depression, impaired brain function and muscle wasting”
· Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA): essential in normal brain development and function
· Heme iron: This assists in the absorption of non-heme iron that you get from plant food, also called the “meat factor”. This is the reason why vegetarian’s vegans are more prone to anemia
· Taurine: plays a role in muscle function, bile salt formation and antioxidant defences.
Many people are busy and preparing meals is time consuming and healthy choices may not be made. Food is expensive and there has been a steady increase of food prices.
Root Cause of support: Society is not openly discussing the issue of obesity. This subject can be viewed as politically incorrect and offensive to some.
How Might We better understand how to bring more attention of our governments, health care, schools and communities. Covid-19 restrictions have created setbacks for families in trying to keep their children active and has highlighted the need for children to be active. It has had an impact on the mental and physical health of children.
I bring Covid-19 into the discussion because according to the International Journal of Obesity, the number one comorbidity of SARS-CoV-2 is obesity and “Having obesity increases the risk of severe illness from Covid-19.” (CDC). So, I ask why our governments and health care professionals have not been addressing this important medical issue.
What we do know — The human body was not designed to be overweight or obese. Excess weight will eventually break down the body. Medical conditions associated to obesity in adults and children include: Type 2 diabetes, High cholesterol, High blood pressure, Depression, Sleep apnea and Joint problems.
So how important is good nutrition. Here is a case of a 14 year old boy in the United Kingdom. He was described as a fussy eater and would only eat Pringles, French fries, white bread and occasionally some processed meat such as ham and sausage. He started making complaints as to how tired he was and went to the doctor for treatment and was found to have a form of anemia and low vitamin B12 levels. A year later, he had symptoms of hearing and vision problems and two years after that, at the age of 17, he was diagnosed as legally blind.
Researchers said the cause was a result of a case of “optic neuropathy with his near-exclusive consumption of junk food as well as the veganism was a possible suspect in the deterioration of his B12 levels.” Further to this he was diagnosed to have severe vitamin 12 deficiency, low copper and selenium levels, high zinc level and “markedly reduce vitamin D and bone mineral density” (Daily News). Optic neuropathy is rare when animal products are consumed. Even though this teen’s BMI was not an issue, his physical health was still impacted.
The goal is to have a healthy society. Proper nutrition and exercise will reduce medical and societal costs. Exercise should be encouraged and processed foods and takeout meals should be reduced as much as possible. These studies show that our society has failed our children.
A great book on this subject, “The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability” by Lierre Keith. It is a bit of a read but extremely informative and eye opening.
REFERENCES
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obesity?src=search-dict-box
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overweight?src=search-dict-box
Arnarson, Atli BSc, Phd, updated (2021, June 9), Medically reviewed by Chin, Kim RD, 7 Nutrients That You Can’t Get from Plants, Healthline
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-nutrients-you-cant-get-from-plants#13
Braine, Theresa, (2019, September 3), Teenage boy goes blind after eating nothing but Pringles, french fries and white bread since elementary school, Daily News
Cranfield, John, Inwood, Kris and Ross, J. Andrew (2015) Before the Obesity Epidemic: The Body Mass Index of Canadians in the First and Second World Wars, Volume 32:2, UTP Journals
https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.32.2.319
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https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/food-allergies.html
Government of Canada
https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
Gray, Laura, (2014, July 8), Will today’s children die earlier than their parents? BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28191865
Hendrick, Bill, Reviewed by Martin, Laura J. MD (2011/04/14), Most Young Kids Don’t Get Enough Exercise, WebMD
https://www.webmd.com/children/news/20110414/most-young-kids-dont-get-enough-exercise
Last reviewed (2021, May 8), How much physical activity do children need? CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/children/index.htm
Lindberg, Sara, Medically reviewed by Luo, Elaine K. M.D. (2019, August 16), What Is My Ideal Body Fat Percentage? Healthline
https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/ideal-body-fat-percentage
Modified (2019, June 25), Health Fact Sheets, Overweight and obese adults, 2018 Statistics Canada
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00005-eng.htm
Overweight and obese adults, 2018, Statistics Canada
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00005-eng.htm
Page last reviewed: March 22, 2021, Overweight & Obesity, CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html
Rao, D.P. PhD, Kropac, E MSc, Do, M.T. Phd, Roberts, K.C. MSc, Jayaraman, G.C. Phd. (2016, September), Childhood overweight and obesity trends in Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129778/
Rebello, Candida J., Kirwan, John P., Greenway, Frank L. (2020, April 29), Obesity, the most common comorbidity in SARS-CoV-2: is leptin the link? International Journal of Obesity
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-020-0640-5.pdf
(2011) Obesity in Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada
