Obesity is a condition of having too much fat in the body more than an average person. It will always result in overweight whereby a person will have weight that is not proportional to his height. Obesity is a result of poor diet habits whereby one takes a lot of fat and the person is not physically active. Children will be victims of poor eating habits because they will want to eat sugary and junk foods. It is therefore necessary to encourage your child to eat foods that will promote his or her health. You can achieve this by teaching the child on the types of healthy foods and motivate him by rewarding him every time he takes one of the foods that you teach him. This way, the child obesity statistics could change positively.
Obesity statistics
Child obesity statistics have indicated that an obese child stands a 400% chance of being depressed when compared to their age mates who have a normal weight. This is a direct result of being bullied and taunted by other kids. These children will even suffer from social anxiety disorders regarding their weight to a point where they will want to stay indoors all the time. Parents and siblings should help such a child by showing him love irrespective of his overweight. Research that was carried out in the year 2010 showed that 20% of children who had not yet attended school were obese. This was attributed to a child’s lack of knowledge on what foods are good for him or her and lack of appreciation for exercises. These children need to be equipped with this knowledge and this would be a task for the parents. Exercise would best be encouraged by making a child see the fun side of it.
Actually, child obesity statistics show that obesity in children aged between two and five years has doubled within the last forty years. Even worse, the condition has tripled in the age group of six to eleven. This can be attributed to the change of lifestyle with time which has led to the exposure of about thirty percent of the children today to the risk of being obese. In fact, at least sixteen percent of the children in the world today are obese. Childhood statistics have indicated that the rate of the condition is slightly higher in boys that in girls. The former suffer at rate of twenty nine percent while the latter are at a risk rate of twenty seven percent. Apart from food and gender, statistics have shown that race is a factor on the rates of obesity. Mexican American boys have been found to be the most prone to be obese with rates of the condition being about forty two percent whereas the girls from Africa are the most likely to be affected by the condition.
The Risks
Finally, statistics have indicated that an adolescent who suffers from obesity stands a chance of 70% of being obese when he is grown up. The other diseases that such a child is at the risk of suffering from are diseases of the heart, cancer and diabetes.