How Can We Prevent Childhood Obesity?
We are all quite aware of the growing concern of obesity in our children today. Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in our society, and we’ve all heard the various statistics regarding this growing trend. But what really are the childhood obesity facts and what are we prepared to do about them?
Plain and simple these are your childhood obesity facts: our children are consistently eating too much of the wrong foods, and have become the most inactive generation in the history of our society. This is not a genetic problem (which is not to say that there are some adults and children that have a genetic and hormonal predisposition to obesity), this is for the most part a behavioural problem, and behaviours can be changed.
Think about it, is it really necessary for our children to be ingesting the vast quantity of refined sugars, processed foods, and hydrogenated fats that they do every day. Foods and beverages that are consumed in such large quantities that their bodies cannot process and eliminate at the rate that these foods are consumed. And because our children are not ‘moving’ any more, the results are inevitable: skyrocketing obesity rates, an alarming incidence of type 2 diabetes in children, a significant increase in childhood behavioural problems, with low self-esteem and a rise in depression rates.
These are your childhood obesity facts! The question has to asked, why are we allowing this to happen?
It certainly is not because of a lack of education or knowledge about what the proper foods are and what constitutes a balanced diet: complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains), adequate proteins, and the right amount of good fats. And we all have an idea of the benefits of exercise both from a physiological and psychological level. We may not know the specifics but we know the generalities. The information and knowledge is at our fingertips, more available and accessible to us than at any time in our history. Read the rest of this entry »
Morbid Obesity Treatment
First of all, let’s precede this discussion on morbid obesity treatment with a brief overview of what morbid obesity means and how it’s different from regular obesity. Obesity means any condition wherein the body fat exceeds the normal quantity with reference to height and body mass of an individual so much so that it interferes with the body’s capability to normally undertake otherwise regular activities such as walking, climbing stairs, etc. and also leads to a lot of other weight related health problems. Morbid obesity is a category of obesity which is characterized by the individual so much fat as to becoming more than double the weight that is normal for his/her height, skeletal mass and age. In other words, when measured on the Body Mass Indicator scale, any result exceeding 39 is considered as a tendency towards morbid obesity. Morbid obesity poses a whole lot of serious health risks as the excess fat puts a lot of pressure on the bones and the vital organs.
Owing to this, a morbidly obese individual runs great risk of experiencing heart failure and suffering from other cardiovascular diseases. Incidences of kidney and liver diseases are also high in morbidly obese persons. Due to heavy pressure on the bones, they also run the risk of osteoporosis as their bones get weaker and are weighed down by all that excess fat. Also, an increase in fat results in a decrease in muscle mass, leading to restriction of body movements and loss of agility. Instances of various respiratory problems are also high in morbidly obese individuals. This is the reason why fat people are not necessarily strong – in fact, they are seriously sick people who need urgent medical attention. A morbidly obese body is like a time bomb, ticking and getting closer to collapse with each passing day! Read the rest of this entry »