{"id":34561,"date":"2014-01-22T20:02:27","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T20:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=34561"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:27:08","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:27:08","slug":"children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/children\/","title":{"rendered":"These Are Our Children: Childhood Obesity Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Childhood-Obesity\"<\/a>Even if you weren\u2019t aware of the fact that there is a childhood obesity epidemic, you certainly can look around and see for yourself.\u00a0 In the 1960\u2019s in the United States, the percentage of obese children was five percent of the population.\u00a0 Today, that number is a staggering 17 percent of the population.\u00a0 And nearly one-third of the childhood population is overweight.\u00a0 The consequences of childhood overweight and obesity include health issues and social\/emotional costs.\u00a0 The outward appearance of overweight and obese children is enough of a tragedy, but what is going on inside of their bodies is now becoming a health catastrophe.<\/p>\n

When most of us hear the words \u201cheart disease,\u201d \u201cstroke,\u201d \u201ctype 2 diabetes,\u201d we tend to associate them with people over 50, if not older.\u00a0 There was a time when type 2 diabetes was referred to as \u201cmature onset diabetes\u201d because it only occurred in older individuals.\u00a0 But much to everyone\u2019s surprise, we are seeing these \u201cadult\u201d diseases manifesting themselves in children.\u00a0 The situation is now so pronounced, that pediatricians have had to relearn about adult diseases manifesting themselves in children.\u00a0 This is all very frightening, and yet we all end up with heartache after these illnesses set in.<\/p>\n

What is causing childhood obesity to manifest itself in ways not seen by previous generations?\u00a0 Although there are those who like to blame genes, what has happened over the last generation has happened too quickly to be blamed on some genetic mutation. We must look at the way we live to get the answers:\u00a0 How do we get to work or school?\u00a0 What, and how much, are we eating for meals and snacks? While genetic factors certainly put some children at higher risk than others for these diseases, the widening of our waistlines, adults and children alike, comes down to lifestyle and habits.<\/p>\n

A study issued this year by Halfon, Larson and Slusser \u00a0shows that in low-income families, obesity is 2.5 times higher than middle-income families. Education of the parents, and marital status also plays a role according to the same study.\u00a0 Children raised by a single parent, or those who have a high-school education or less are also more likely to be obese.\u00a0 Multiple studies show that the risk of childhood obesity begins right from birth, so early intervention in the home becomes crucial.<\/p>\n

The concerns for children who are overweight are not just aesthetic.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t one major organ of the body which isn\u2019t affected.\u00a0 Complications include asthma, sleep apnea, gallstones, liver dysfunction, bone fractures and girls can become infertile. Really, all of the complications of adult obesity, like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and metabolic syndrome are present in obese children.\u00a0 A recent study in the Netherlands found two-thirds of obese children aged 2-18 had one or more of the following cardiovascular risk factors:<\/p>\n