Childhood Obesity (5) - Causes of obesity

While some rare genetic conditions may cause obesity, obesity is generally caused by not making the correct choices in lifestyle. Obesity can occur when calories intake is greater than calories consumption, resulting a positive balance of calories retained in the body. Thus, the equation of obesity:
Retention of calories = Intake of calories – Consumption of calories

From the above equation, obesity is directly proportional to the amount of retention of calories in the body. Hence, it is easy to see that to reduce the chance of becoming obese is either to reduce the intake of calories, or to increase the consumption of calories, or both. To reduce the number of obese children, we need to start tweaking the above equation with children at schools.

We have to teach children at a young age to know the importance of reducing calories intake on the one hand, and the importance of physical exercises regularly on the other. However, Starky (2005) found that the availability of nutritional food choices in schools is of poor choices. A regular school day is usually of “low levels of physical activity, high participation in sedentary activities” (Hanning et al., 2007).

Reference
Starky, S. (2005). The Obesity Epidemic in Canada. Ottawa: Parliamentary Information and Research Services, Economics Division.
Hanning, R. M., et al. (2007). Nutrient Intakes and Food Consumption Pattern Among Ontario Students in Grades Six, Seven, and Eight. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 98(1):12-16. 2007.