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.

Childhood Obesity (4) - Costs of obesity

Obesity can lead to serious health problems. Among other medical problems, the more commonly known ones are cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea and other breathing problems. With more obese children turning into obese adults, they will more likely produce obese children. As a result of this vicious cycle, the economic burden on society increases at an alarming rate.

The Ontario Medical Association report pointed out that studies have shown that there is a 50% chance that the children will also be obese if only one parent is obese, and the chance increase to 80% when both parents are obese, and the report assessed that in 1997, Canada spent more than $1.8 billion on fighting obesity (OMA, 2005a).

This figure just shows the direct costs, which are inputs of resources to fight the direct medical consequences of the problem. However, this problem also carries indirect costs, which are negative outputs, or lack of outputs. As a result, levels of economic productivity are negatively impacted due to poorer health, absenteeism, disability and premature mortality (Starky, 2005).

Reference
OMA (2005a). An Ounce of Prevention or a Ton of Trouble: Is there an epidemic of obesity in children? Ontario Medical Association.
Starky, S. (2005). The Obesity Epidemic in Canada. Ottawa: Parliamentary Information and Research Services, Economics Division.

Childhood Obesity (3) - Overweight and obese

Although it is not the main purpose of this paper to present how overweight and obesity is
determined in the health sciences, yet it will help to lay a better foundation for understanding the issue.

A commonly used metric to classify human body weight is body mass index, or BMI, which is calculated by using the following formula:


where W is the weight in kilograms and H in metres.

The cut-off points are 25 and 30. Adults with a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 are classified as overweight, and 30 and above as obese (CDC, 2008a). However, BMI is calculated differently for children and teens because the amount of body fat differs between boys and girls and changes with age. Hence, BMI for children and teens is often referred to as BMI-for-age. When the BMI-for-age falls within the 85th to less than the 95th percentile, the child is considered to be overweight. When the BMI-for-age is equal to or greater than the 95th percentile, the child is considered to be obese (CDC, 2008b).

Reference
CDC (2008a). Defining Overweight and Obesity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/defining.htm.
CDC (2008b). About BMI for Children and Teens. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_BMI/about_childrens_BMI.htm

Childhood Obesity (2) - The stakeholders

Many people are affected by this problem directly or indirectly. They are all stakeholders. The following lists whom these people are and why they are:

· Students – Obesity affects their health.

· Parents – It’s their children’s health that they are concerned about.

· Teachers – It’s their responsibilities to teach students to live healthy lives.

· Educators – It’s their responsibilities to include the appropriate topics in the curriculum so that teachers can teach them to the students. These people are policy makers in the provincial Ministry of Education.

· School administrators – It’s their responsibilities to make sure that policies are adhered to and curricula are followed closely by school principals and teachers. These people are trustees in school boards.

Childhood Obesity (1) - The issue

The World Health Organization estimated that in 2005 there were approximately 1.6 billion adults were overweight, and at least 400 million adults were obese (WHO, 2006). In 2004, figures from Statistics Canada showed that over 11 million Canadians were overweight or obese (StatCan, 2004). Canada is not alone in facing this problem. Similar trends occur worldwide just like an epidemic. The World Health Organization even coined the term “globesity” to refer to this escalating global epidemic of obesity (WHO, 1997).

This “globesity” apparently has spread from adults to children. The World Health Organization sees that childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. The problem is not just limited to developed, industrialized countries; it is steadily affecting many low- and middle-income countries. It has become a global issue (WHO, 2008a). In a report issued by the Ontario Medical Association (OMA, 2005a), obesity in Canadian children has increased significantly from 1981 to 1996. During this period, overweight boys increased almost two-fold from 15% to about 29%, while overweight girls increased from 15% to about 24%. In addition, obese Canadian children during the same period increased more than two-fold from 5% to more than 11%.

The figures obtained during this period were usually through self-reported numbers. Subjects of research might tend to over-report or under-report certain anthropometrics, thus making the results less objective. A study (Shields, 2006) is based on measured heights and weights of subjects, which makes the results of the survey more reliable. From this study, 26% of children of age 2 to 17 are overweight or obese, and 8% of children are obese.

These figures are alarming, and even more so, it is on a rising trend. One may ask: Who are affected by the issue? Who are the stakeholders?

References
WHO (1997). Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. World Health Organization.
WHO (2006). “Obesity and overweight”. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/
WHO (2008a). “Childhood overweight and obesity” World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/.
OMA (2005a). An Ounce of Prevention or a Ton of Trouble: Is there an epidemic of obesity in children? Ontario Medical Association.
Shields, M. (2006). “Overweight and obesity among children and youth” Health Reports, 17(3):27-42, 2006.
StatCan (2004). Canadian Community Health Survey. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.