Effects of Child Obesity – Answers to Most Frequently Asked Questions
Overweight 35-year-old with diabetes and coronary heart disease? These are just two of the long-term effects of child obesity, and that is where our kids are headed, unless immense – and instant – transformations are made in the effort to restrain childhood obesity. Here are three of the most frequent questions our experts here at WellnessHealthPro.com are asked by our visitors each month about the effects of child obesity:
- What are some of the diseases caused by childhood obesity?
Some of the main effects of child obesity include pediatric hypertension and Type II diabetes, a disease that previously only afflicted adults. The statistics for children and adults afflicted with the disease have risen by fifty percent. It also puts your children at risk for coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US, according to the American Heart Association.
- Are there any other health effects of childhood obesity?
Obesity increases stress on weight bearing joints, i.e. the back, knees and ankles, which can bring about arthritis later in life, in addition to increasing the likelihood of injuries in these areas. However, a lot of psychologists think that the most destructive effect of child obesity is the brutal psychosocial problems that can stem from the disease. Obesity in childhood lowers self-esteem, leading to underachievement and deficiencies in self-confidence.
- What percentage of the population is affected?
The percentage of kids and teenagers who are defined as overweight has more than doubled since the early 1970s. About fifteen percent of children and adolescents are now overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control. This is a disturbing trend because one of the effects of child obesity is that it leads to obesity in adulthood as well: thirty percent of adult obesity starts in childhood.