Childhood and adolescent obesity continues to rank highly as a public health issue globally. Characterized by being overweight and having over the normal range body mass index (BMI), obesity in children and teenagers worries the medical fraternity significantly. The condition causes mental health challenges in children and adolescents and is a leading cause for cardiovascular illnesses, such as hypertension. To date, professionals from the healthcare sectors have not devised a cure for obesity. Instead, clinicians suggest the use of dietary, physical activity, and lifestyle changes to manage obesity in children and young adults with obesity. Over the years, the issue of adolescent and childhood obesity has been reviewed extensively and documented in scientific peer-reviewed journals by academics. The in-depth analysis of obesity in the mentioned patient population shows its epidemiological burden on society and intervention methods to remedy the condition.
Many authors have documented the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents using variant scales. For instance, Motevallie et al. (2021) indicate that over the past few decades, the rate of obesity in children and adolescents have increased by up to 11.6%. The authors note that globally, 170 million children have been diagnosed with obesity, and 85 million are feared to enter adulthood having the condition. A study conducted by Elinde et al. (2018) shows that in Sweden, 3% of children and adolescents have obesity. Finally, Weihrauch-Blüher and Wiegand (2018) indicate that since 1980s, the rate of obesity in children and adolescents has doubled in 70 nations globally. The authors note that according to a survey conducted by the Global Burden of Disease Study, 107.7 million young adults and children were obese in 2015. Therefore, obesity has a significant prevalence, as explained.
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The issue of obesity and its causes has been studied extensively by researchers. For instance, in 2014, Rathnayake, Roopasingam, and Wickramasighe studied the potential causes of obesity in school children. The researchers designed a case control study and recruited 100 participants from public schools in Sri Lanka of between ages 18 and 14 years. Rathnayake, Roopasingam, and Wickramasighe (2014) sought ethical permission from Wayamba University, the Department of Applied Nutrition. Additionally, the researchers sought informed consent from the participants’ parents and assent from study subjects. Data collection was conducted through questionnaires issued during an interview session, which checked the dietary, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors that cause obesity in children and young adults. The collected data was analyzed using the statistical SPSS 16.0 software. Through a regression analysis, the researchers evaluated the binary confidence and odds ratio for collected data. The researchers also applied a paired t-test on data collected to determine significant values for recurrent measures. The study results showed that potential risk factors for obesity included lack of engaging in physical activity, poor dietary practices, and low income family backgrounds that indulged in unhealthy foods frequently.
Obesity in children remains a public health that continues to attract various solutions from the academic field. The problem’s prevalence has propelled the creation of various solutions to end its epidemiological burden on society. For instance, Weihrauch-Blüher et al. (2018) assert that the condition can be prevented through behavioral or environmental corrective measures aimed at parents and caregivers. According to the researchers, healthcare professionals should educate parents and caregivers on the causes of obesity through an awareness creation campaign and the need to create healthy environments for children and adolescents. Additionally, the authors note that obesity can be prevented if children are allowed less screen time and encouraged to engage in physical activity more frequently.
In a different study, Motevalli et al. (2021) list the negative effects of obesity in children and adolescents. The researchers assert that primarily, obese young adults have low self-esteem, poor sleeping patterns, isolate themselves socially, and tend to be discriminated by their peers. Further, obese children and adolescent are at a higher risk of acquiring diseases, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia. Solutions for obesity in children as suggested by the authors include encouraging the patient population to engage in physical activity more frequently, enforcing the consumption of healthy diets. Further, Motevalli et al. (2021) recommend educating caregivers and parents on the effects of obesity on children and adolescents, and encouraging the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.
However, Weihrauch-Blüher and Wiegand, (2018) lament that obesity in children and young adults will continue to be a burden to the healthcare fraternity for lack of adequate remedial interventions. The authors assert that up to 2018, the medical field had documented limited success in treating obesity in young adults. Weihrauch-Blüher and Wiegand, (2018) note that as of 2015, up to 4 million people had died from weight related issues. The authors indicate that of the recorded deaths in 2015, 70% had resulted from cardiovascular illnesses associated with obesity. Nevertheless, Weihrauch-Blüher and Wiegand, (2018) write that obesity treatment has a higher rate of success in young children. Nevertheless, researchers should continue examining reasons for failure rates experienced by the medical fraternity when using therapeutic interventions to treat obesity. Else, the condition will continue being an epidemiological burden on the identified patient population, households, and the healthcare sector.
References
Elinder, L. S., Patterson, E., Nyberg, G., & Norman, Å. (2018). A healthy school start plus for prevention of childhood overweight and obesity in disadvantaged areas through parental support in the school setting - study protocol for a parallel group cluster randomised trial. BMC Public Health , 18 (1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5354-4
Motevalli, M., Drenowatz, C., Tanous, D. R., Khan, N. A., & Wirnitzer, K. (2021). Management of childhood obesity—Time to shift from generalized to personalized intervention strategies. Nutrients , 13 (4), 1200. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13041200
Rathnayake, K. M., Roopasingam, T., & Wickramasighe, V. (2014). Nutritional and behavioral determinants of adolescent obesity: A case–control study in Sri Lanka. BMC Public Health , 14 (1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1291
Weihrauch-Blüher, S., Kromeyer-Hauschild, K., Graf, C., Widhalm, K., Korsten-Reck, U., Jödicke, B., Markert, J., Müller, M. J., Moss, A., Wabitsch, M., & Wiegand, S. (2018). Current guidelines for obesity prevention in childhood and adolescence. Obesity Facts , 11 (3), 263-276. https://doi.org/10.1159/000486512
Weihrauch-Blüher, S., & Wiegand, S. (2018). Risk factors and implications of childhood obesity. Current Obesity Reports , 7 (4), 254-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0320-0
