Obese Children Problems 2010

Childhood obesity is becoming more common in the UK. This factsheet is for people who are concerned about childhood obesity, or who would like information about it.

Instead you should help your child to of your child is overweight, you shouldn't encourage a strict diet to lose excess weight. Your GP will check height and weight charts (centile charts) when assessing your child to see if he/she is overweight for his/her age. You may find it difficult to tell whether your child has temporary "puppy fat" or is genuinely overweight. See Prevention of childhood obesity for some tips on how to change your child's eating and exercise habits and help him/her maintain a healthy weight.

It's unlikely that your child will be overweight because of an underlying medical problem. Genetic factors could play a role in this, but shared eating and activity habits, or a combination of both, are more likely to cause your child to be overweight. If there is a family history of being overweight or obese, your child may be more likely to be obese. Instead, many of them spend hours in front of a television or computer. Alongside this, physical activity and exercise are no longer a part of most children's days - some children never walk or cycle to school or play sport.

High-calorie foods such as chocolates, sweets and fast food are cheap and readily available to children. An unhealthy diet combined with a lack of exercise are the main causes of childhood obesity. Teasing about his/her appearance can affect a child's confidence and self-esteem, and can lead to isolation and depression. As well as being a risk to the child's health, being overweight as a child may also cause emotional problems.

The risk of health problems increases the more overweight you become. This means that in adulthood, they will be at an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and certain cancers. Overweight children are twice as likely to be obese when they grow up than children who aren't overweight. If your child is overweight or obese, it's more likely that he/she will develop some serious health problems more usually seen in adulthood, such as hardened and blocked arteries (coronary artery diseases), high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. In 2004 it was estimated that 14 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls aged two to 15 were obese.

The number of overweight and obese children in the UK has risen steadily over the past 20 years. However, like adults, if they take in more energy-in the form of food - than they use up, the extra energy is stored in their bodies as fat. A sufficient energy intake is important for your children while they are growing, and a varied and nutritious diet is essential for their development. Too much food with a high fat or sugar content and a lack of physical activity means that many children are becoming overweight and some even develop the health problems usually seen in adults.