Eight-year-old Debesh Rana had a sudden blackout while he was playing at home. After a week, his parents took him to Delhi for checkup and were stunned by the medical reports. Their son had high cholesterol and triglyceride.[break]
Plump Debesh was 140 cm tall and his weight was 49 kgs. Considering his height and age, the doctors informed that his ideal weight should actually be 33 kgs and warned him to watch his diet as excessive weight could take a toll on his health.
His day started with a heavy breakfast, including cheesy and butter-laden white bread sandwiches, followed by lots of oily snacks and junk food throughout the day. Being a food lover, it has however been torturous for Debesh to break his unhealthy eating habits.
“He couldn’t resist keeping his hands off junk food but now we have tried really hard to change his diet and cut down on all the high-calorie food items,” says Slesha Rana who is anxious about her son’s health issues at such a tender age.
She has completely stopped giving him white bread and instead makes him have soup, fruits and boiled vegetables for breakfast. “It’s been like a punishment for my son who craves the food he previously used to have and often questions why he isn’t allowed to have junk food. We should’ve changed his eating habits long time back so that he would’ve been used to eating healthy by now,” says Slesha.
But on the brighter side, Debesh’s weight has now gone down to 43 kgs and his mother is positive that he will slowly reach his ideal size.
Many urban children can relate to Debesh’s story, as from early on they are accustomed to junk food products which are easily accessible in the market and lured to such comfort foods by the marketing strategies of the products. But there is high risk of being prone to obesity and inviting serious ailments.
Dr Narayan Bahadur Basnet, senior consultant pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist, says that frequent cases of obese children with health problems are reported to his clinic.
“Obese children are prone to diabetes as the glucose in the body doesn’t get digested which increases the glucose level in the body,” he says and adds that obese children may also suffer from respiratory problems like difficulty in breathing, asthma and even sleep apnea which causes pauses in breathing or waking up several times during the night due to difficulty in breathing.
“Obesity can even lead to hypertension, coronary artery diseases and heart attacks, and even children aged 10 to 15 years can also be at risk,” says Basnet, also the Director of Children´s Medical Diagnosis Center (CMDC).
Kids who are obese are also prone to blood pressures. There are numerous such risk factors that contribute to developing high blood pressure, and one of the secondary causes is due to obesity. Obese people are two to six times more at risk of developing high blood pressure than people who have healthy weight.
“Obesity has multiple effects on children and those children at risk are not usually those who are not active but consume high calories which are more than required by their bodies,” he explains.
Ria Shrestha is fifteen years old and she prefers to stay aloof and is usually lost in her own world. Rather than socializing with the other kids in the neighborhood, she prefers to get engrossed in front of the television with a pack of potato chips and aerated drinks. The main reason for her anti-social behavior is her weight issues.
She also recently got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a case where the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin which is necessary for the body to use glucose for energy, the basic fuel for cells. Such a form of diabetes was hardly seen in children before the 1990s but sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits have changed the whole scenario.
Dr Basnet informs that besides diabetes, there is also risk of cholesterol getting stored slowly in the artery of obese kids which might even lead to stroke. “Such cases might not be that frequent to hear and may not be as common like in adults but the risks are high,” he says.
Parents too are often at fault for causing weight gain among their children. They tend to overfeed their children, thinking that more the children will eat, the healthier they will become.
Such is the case of Sailesh Manandhar who encouraged his child to eat more even when the child often complained of being full already. Even after a heavy lunch or dinner, he would be happy to treat his chubby daughter to sugary delicacies. With time, the appetite of his child has tremendously increased and she has even developed unhealthy eating habits.
“When she was having overweight issues and would find it even difficult to run or stay active like other normal kids, I later learnt that I was doing it the wrong way all the while,” regrets Sailesh.
Dr Basnet also blames the growing fad of video games for further causing inactiveness and overweight problems among urban kids.
“Though we don’t see cases of obese children with health issues coming everyday, we frequently see it, at least a few in a week. This in itself is alarming,” he adds.
Shrijana Shrestha, Professor of Pediatrics at Patan Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, says that obesity can lead to high cholesterol but sometimes it can also be due to genetic conditions. “The only way to fight these problems however is by having healthy diet and exercising daily,” she says.
She states that when obese children reach the period of young adulthood, they are more at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases or heart attacks. This is because obese kids are likely to be obese as adults and may also face bone and joint problems, type 2 diabetes and strokes.
“Heart attacks were common to those who crossed the age of 40, but that concept has changed. Though familial conditions may trigger health issues, obesity can cause numerous such health ailments,” says Srijana.
Similar to the case of Ria, she says that obese children may also face psychological problems and have to bear social discrimination. They might develop poor self-esteem which can even hinder their academic and overall growth and functioning.
“Therefore, parents too need to be aware of lifestyle modifications of their kids,” she says.
Dr Basnet suggests that children should have high fiber diets and also diet including proper proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and fat. “In the diet calorie supplement, people shouldn’t take more than 30 percent of calories from only fat. This applies to both children and adult,” he informs.
Faulty eating habits and inactive lifestyle are increasing the cases of obesity among children, and with awareness levels being low, it is important for such children to adopt healthy lifestyle.
Basnet says that any child who is obese should start with proper exercises and should also cut down on sugary food. “Since children keep on growing which is not the same for elders, they have more chances of losing fat early. Therefore, it is imperative that we raise awareness so that we can avoid health problems from occurring and hindering the proper growth of children,” he concludes.
nistha.rayamajhi11@gma
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