How to overcome childhood obesity

Musa, a 14-year-old pupil of Genesis Secondary School, Kubwa, Abuja (coined school name), is obese. According to his slim built mother, Fatima, Musa’s battle with obesity started when he was a toddler. She said she has tried to curb Musa’s ravenous eating habits, but to no avail. Fatima said Musa, unlike his siblings, had a […]

Musa, a 14-year-old pupil of Genesis Secondary School, Kubwa, Abuja (coined school name), is obese.

According to his slim built mother, Fatima, Musa’s battle with obesity started when he was a toddler.

She said she has tried to curb Musa’s ravenous eating habits, but to no avail.

Fatima said Musa, unlike his siblings, had a big appetite for food and loved to eat chocolates.

She said, “On several occasions, I had tried depriving him of food but it didn’t help matters. My husband and I are not fat, although my mother was a bit on the fat side. I’m not very knowledgeable but I know that my son’s challenge with obesity is because he finds it hard to control what he eats. I’m really upset about his weight.”

A medical expert, Dr. Nnena Ezigwe, said obesity is a condition where a person has accumulated so much body fat that it might have a negative effect on their health.

Ezigwe said obesity is caused when there is imbalance between the calories one takes in, in terms of the food one eats, and then the calories one expends by the activities one undertakes.

“So when the intake is more than the expenditure that is when you’re now obese. So what causes it is the kind of food you eat. We are looking at very fatty foods like fried foods. These days you have all these fast foods that they cook with any kind of oil.

“Secondly, taking excessive sugar; if you take it in excess then it will also make you accumulate a lot of calories and then this is now worsened by the fact that you’re not doing a lot of physical activity,” she said.

On symptoms of obesity in children, she said, “Children grow at different rates at different times; it is not always easy to tell if a child is overweight. Body Mass Index (BMI) uses height and weight measurements to estimate how much body fat a child has, and can be used to screen for weight and obesity problems from the age of two.

“However, while BMI is usually a good indicator, it may not be a perfect measure of body fat and can be misleading in some situations.”

Quoting the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), she said 1.6% of children in the country were obese in 2015, adding that during the national demographic health survey in 2018, it rose to 2%.

“So it rose from 1.6% to 2% in three years, and then it is projected that if nothing is done, it is going to keep rising, even to epidemic proportions,” she said.

She said to diagnose childhood obesity, “your doctor will calculate your child’s BMI and check where it falls on the BMI-for-age growth chart and your child’s percentile.

“Your doctor will also consider other factors such as the child’s growth and development, eating habits, activity level, any health conditions, psychosocial factors and family health history to determine whether your child is overweight or obese.   

“Your doctor may also recommend a diagnostic blood test to check for cholesterol, blood sugar, vitamin D deficiency, hormonal imbalances or any other conditions related to obesity.”

On how it can be prevented, she said getting the right information about the causes is the first step. “Watch what you eat, decrease sugary food, decrease fatty food, decrease oily food, and then increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Also do exercises. For children, it is recommended that they do at least 60 minutes of physical exercise every day.”

A paediatrician, Dr. Kuti Demilade Kehinde, said treatment for childhood obesity is provided based on the child’s age and presence of other medical conditions.

 “Treatments are usually a combination of changes to the child’s eating habits and increased physical activity. Sometimes, medication may be prescribed for some adolescents as part of an overall weight-loss plan. For extreme cases, childhood obesity may be treated with weight-loss surgery.”

Kehinde advised parents to set a good example for their children with their daily exercise routines.

“Start adding physical activity to your own daily routine and encourage your child to join you. Some examples of moderately-intense physical activity include brisk walking, jumping rope, playing soccer, swimming and dancing,” she said.