Everyone is praising my child for being white, fat and cute, but who knows he is facing a huge risk?

March is here, and many people are talking about losing weight, but there is one group of people who usually think the fatter the better. Have you often heard or said the following words:

"The chubby baby is so cute"

"Your child is too thin, eat more"

"Oh, this child is really well raised, so white and plump."

However, there is a piece of data that reveals a grim reality.

In 2002, the overweight and obesity rate among Chinese children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 was less than 5%.

In 2020, this figure reached 19%. This means that in a class of 40 people, about 7 are overweight or obese.

This number is steadily increasing.

The data comes from the "Report on the Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020)"

While people are praising children for being plump and white, the problem of children's obesity needs more attention from parents.

1. What are overweight and obesity?

In the literature, overweight and obesity are defined as follows:

overweight

A pre-obese state in which excess body fat accumulates, potentially causing health damage.

obesity

It is a chronic metabolic disease caused by multiple factors, in which energy intake exceeds energy expenditure, leading to excessive accumulation of fat in the body to the point of endangering health.

Whether being overweight or obese, it can be harmful to your health.

How can we preliminarily determine whether school-age children are overweight or obese?

Children aged 6 to 18 can refer to the "Overweight and Obesity Screening for School-Age Children and Adolescents" standards issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and conduct preliminary screening by calculating their personal body mass index (BMI).

It’s very simple. Just calculate two values ​​based on your child’s current situation.

The first step is to calculate BMI:

Example: Xiao Ming weighs 40 kilograms and is 1.4 meters tall, so his BMI is 40 ÷ 1.42 = 20.4.

Step 2: Calculate age:

Age is measured in half years, the number of years from birth to the time of calculation.

After calculating these two things, you can compare them according to the following table:

2. What are the consequences of being overweight and obese?

Studies have shown that childhood obesity can cause harm to children's cardiovascular system, endocrine system, respiratory system, liver, movement, bones, psychological behavior, cognition, intelligence, etc.

What’s even more frightening is that such impacts and harm cannot be eliminated in the short term.

There is a big difference between childhood obesity and adult obesity.

Obesity in children is caused by an increase in both the number and volume of fat cells (because children are still in the growth and development period), while obesity in adults is simply the accumulation of fat in cells, and the number of their cells will no longer change significantly.

Therefore, when obese children grow up, even if they lose weight, they can only reduce the fat content in the cells, but there is no way to reduce the number of fat cells.

In other words – losing weight is more difficult.

Overweight and obesity in childhood can persist into adulthood, and some of the dysfunctional phenomena caused by overweight and obesity will increase the risk of disease in adulthood. This is an important risk factor for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes and various cancers.

3. Why do children become overweight or obese?

Genetic factors are one of the main causes of obesity.

Some genes in our body can regulate energy consumption and intake, and can regulate fat cells to store fat, which are closely related to obesity. So some people will say that they "get fat even if they drink water", and it's not their fault, it's innate.

In addition to genetics, an unhealthy lifestyle also has a huge impact on overweight and obesity.

The official website of the Chinese Nutrition Society has a balanced diet chart for Chinese children, which provides advice and guidance on childhood diet.

The abacus clearly states that the daily intake of oil and salt should be the minimum, and grains, vegetables, fruits, livestock and poultry meat, eggs, aquatic products, soy nuts, and milk need to be consumed in reasonable amounts. In addition, 1 hour of outdoor activities per day is recommended.

With the development of technology, children have too many opportunities to use electronic products and are easily addicted to them, sitting down all day. Lack of outdoor exercise will lead to a decrease in overall energy consumption, which will also lead to obesity.

So if you see this, don’t forget to take out one hour every day starting today to take your children downstairs to jump around, play ball, or run.

4. Prevention is more important

Children's overweight and obesity should start with prevention.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as a disease and calls on us not to underestimate the impact of obesity on children.

This requires parents to set an example and have a positive influence on their children.

We have compiled some tips on eating and exercise for everyone in front of the screen:

The root cause of obesity, after all, is that the energy consumed is greater than the energy consumed, causing the excess energy to turn into fat.

We do not pursue a too thin body, nor do we advocate eating the more the better.

Whether adults or children, we should cultivate healthy eating behaviors and lifestyles. Eat well when you should eat, move well when you should move, and stay away from overweight and obesity.

Of course, if the child is already overweight or obese, parents should not be too anxious to give them various unscientific weight loss methods, or criticize the child by saying he is "fat" every day.

After all, we have all been young once, so we should be able to understand that children need to be respected and understood more.