According to the World Health Organization, pediatric obesity is one of the very severe global health concerns of the 21st century, putting children at serious risk for Type 2 diabetes, asthma and heart failure. Several studies are conducted to review the consequences of child and young adult obese nature which has revealed very little evidence on adult health at a later stage.
However, doctors and researchers suggest that overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence have adverse consequences on premature mortality and physical morbidity in adulthood. Let us see some of the long-term impacts of childhood obesity in this blog.
What Are The Long-Term Effects Of Childhood Obesity?
Obesity paves way right from childhood into adulthood, and the perseverance of obesity grows with age among overweight kids. Early-onset obesity was advocated as a hazard element for disease and death later in a lifetime. In both sexual categories, levels of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disorder, fatty deposits conditions, hip fissure, metabolic syndrome, cancer and inflammatory arthritis were heightened in individuals who were obese as young teenagers.
These complications don’t occur overnight, therefore earlier you take precautions to manage the condition, higher will be the success rate. However, this condition is often overlooked, these obese kids when mature are more vulnerable to the health effects of obesity.1
Heart disease is one of the leading killers in American countries therefore a study was conducted to determine the health effects of changes in weight from childhood to adulthood. The study tracked over 2500 patients during the years 1980 – 2011 in the age group of 6-18 years old.
This study revealed most patients had fluctuating weight between childhood and adulthood. Patients whose weight is always on the rise had problems of cardiovascular disease later in their life. Especially in females, there was a higher mortality risk due to several causes. However, in men, atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and colorectal cancer were substantially noticed.
Many studies have observed significant “clustering” of cardiovascular risk factors (the aggregation of risk factors in the same individual) with pediatric obesity, and it has become clear that the extent of asymptomatic atherosclerotic lesions in childhood and adolescence is predicted by the number of cardiovascular risk factors present. Evidence on cardiovascular risk factors predicts increased adult cardiovascular morbidity and mortality arising from childhood obesity.2,3
Which Country Has The Highest Rate Of It?
You have perhaps seen about obesity in the media and noticed on the news bulletin in the United States, the figure for children with obesity has remained to soar over the last two decades. Pediatric obesity is developing an outbreak in America. Based on the study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately “2 in 10 school-age children and young people (5 to 20 years) facing issues with overweight.
Still, the occurrence of childhood obesity seems to fluctuate across nations. Behind Nauru, the Cook Islands and Palau are the second and third highest overweight populations, with overweight individuals finishing up 56 percent and 55 percent, correspondingly.
Trinidad and Tobago have the most obesity in the Caribbean, with more than 30 percent of its adult inhabitants obese, rating the nation sixth at the global level. World Health Organization conducted an obesity surveillance initiative during the years 2015 – 2017, the results showed that southern European countries that include Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Spain have the highest rate of child obesity. In these countries, most boys were obese, and rates of obesity among girls were marginally smaller.4,5
- Long-term effects of childhood obesity on late-life health revealed by study https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140212132629.htm
- Understanding the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Obesity https://www.cardiosmart.org/News-and-Events/2018/05/Understanding-the-Long-Term-Effects-of-Childhood-Obesity
- Long-term effects of childhood obesity on morbidity and mortality. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11408761
- Why these Pacific Island nations have world’s highest childhood obesity rates https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/health/child-obesity-parenting-without-borders-intl/index.html
- Latest data shows southern European countries have highest rate of childhood obesity http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/news/news/2018/5/latest-data-shows-southern-european-countries-have-highest-rate-of-childhood-obesity
Also Read:
- How Do Parents Cause Childhood Obesity & What Is The Recommended Treatment For It
- Is Childhood Obesity A Problem & What Are Its Coping Methods?
- What Are The Effects Of Childhood Obesity & Is It On The Rise?
- Is Childhood Obesity A Serious Condition & Can It Be Reversed?
- Lifestyle Changes For Childhood Obesity
- Who Is At Risk For Childhood Obesity & Is There A Blood Test For It?
- How To Diagnose Childhood Obesity & What Is The Best Medicine For It?
