Is Childhood Obesity Being Helped or Worsened?
How should doctors help kids struggling with obesity?
Childhood obesity has been on the rise for years now; we are seeing more and more obese kids because parents are teaching their kids more about McDonald's and Burger King than about fruits, vegetables, and a healthy life style to live.
What do kids with obesity really face?
High blood pressure, diabetes, and muscle and joint problems will be common symptoms as they grow older.
Statistics
In the year 2000, childhood obesity was at a 13.9-14% rate, and in 2016 it was up to 18.5%. Some people may think that a low incline, but let's actually break that down real quick. The Earth has about 7.7 billion people on it, and about 30% of that population is under the age of 18, AKA kids, preteens, and teens. That means 2.31 billion people of the 7.7 billion people are kids. Now, keeping in mind that 18.5% of children are obese, how many individuals actually suffer from obesity? 427.35 million kids! That's right, millions of kids are obese around the world, and that rate is climbing still! A third of kids in the USA alone struggle with this disease, and obesity is now the most common chronic disease for kids and teens. Children in low-income families are more likely to struggle with obesity. So what are doctors and parents doing to fix this?
How should doctors react to a kid being obese?
Doctors sometimes will judge these kids; this can cause a negative emotional and mental impact to the kids and their parents, which can cause them to skip regular checkups for school, vaccinations, or physicals for sports, PE, etc. Generally, these appointments are about 15-30 minutes in length and the doctor has to find time to address the child's weight issue correctly around administering vaccines, performing a physical, taking the child's vitals, etc. But when the subject does come up, it's usually something along the lines of, "Consider joining a sport and laying back on the soda pop and fast food," not something completely constructive; this can leave the patient and their parents with an uncomfortable and failing feeling.
But then again, a doctor has extremely limited resources, especially when it comes to the fact that they have limited time with a patient they don't know much about (except for what's on their medical record and what they know from talks during the appointments). Even when a doctor tries to give advice to the patient and their families, there are many studies out there that prove that most of the time this doesn't help and may even make the situation worse.
A group formed by pediatric obesity specialists is helping kids deal with their obesity issues across the country by offering a variety of doctors and nurses, nutritionists, coaches, and psychologists. They are doing something logical; they are helping kids reach a normal weight rather than constantly pointing out the obese number and handing out unhelpful hints that the child should change their lifestyles completely. One example of the centers they run is one in DC called Improving Diet, Energy and Activity for Life (IDEAL for short) Clinic at the Children's National Hospital. Dr. Nazrat Mirza is the director and explains that treating the families and patients with dignity is the way to help the kids reach a healthy weight for their age. They teach parents that weight is more of a biological and environmental factor instead of telling them that it's an unwillingness to change their number on the scale. Their staff is more experienced than a regular doctor's office and they extend the appointments so the kids and parents can see all the doctors they need to, such as a nutritionalist, psychiatrist, etc. Parents are also told to take control and limit their kid's soda, sugary juice, fast food, and candy intake. Families will have these appointments every few weeks. There are other programs that try to help with kids' obesity issues.
So is childhood obesity still on the rise?
Yes and no. kids that are getting correct help are getting a healthier weight whilst kids who cannot receive help are not improving.
~Scott
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/05/728812078/how-doctors-can-stop-stigmatizing-and-start-helping-kids-with-obesity
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/05/728812078/how-doctors-can-stop-stigmatizing-and-start-helping-kids-with-obesity
About the Creator
Scott Lavely
I am a transgender individual trying to bring light to LGBTQA+ in the USA and other areas of the world
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