Obesity is a high risk factor for various cardiovascular diseases and endocrine diseases. With the development of society, simple obesity in children has become one of the diseases affecting children’s health. However, due to the aesthetic orientation of China’s social environment and the insufficient understanding of the harm of obesity by society and parents, most obese or overweight children have not received timely intervention.
Parents think that children’s good appetite is a sign of health, Most of them worry that their children are too thin, But they don’t realize that the healthy children in their eyes are already in a state of disease. At present, the incidence rate of obesity among children in our country is close to the level of developed countries and is increasing rapidly every year. A national survey in 2006 showed that 7.2% of children are obese and 19.8% are overweight. This is 3.6 times and 4.7 times higher than the 1996 data respectively.
First, how to define childhood obesity?
(Photo: BMI Classification Standard for Overweight/Obesity Screening of School-age Children and Adolescents in China)
The diagnosis of obesity in children is unscientific because of the changes in growth and development. Usually, it refers to the standard weight of children of the same age and sex, and more than 10% is overweight. More than 20% of children of the same age and sex are obese. However, such assessment needs to refer to the standard population value and is not easy for parents to master.
In 2004, the China Obesity Working Group of the International Society for Life Sciences, after studying 244,200 718-year-old teenagers, officially launched the [BMI Classification Standard for Overweight and Obesity Screening of School-age Children and Adolescents in China]. This standard is relatively in line with children’s reality and relatively simple and easy to implement. Parents can measure themselves according to children’s height and weight.
What are the health hazards of childhood obesity?
Childhood obesity can cause many diseases. Studies have suggested that childhood obesity may be the cause of many chronic diseases in adulthood. Habits established in childhood tend to continue into adulthood, and physical damage caused by childhood obesity also increases the risk of hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia in adulthood.
Obesity in children not only increases the risk of diseases in adulthood, but also is a risk factor for many diseases such as childhood asthma, obstructive sleep apnea and bone and joint development disorders.
Three, how to avoid childhood obesity?
1. Preventive principles for childhood obesity
First of all, parents need to know about obesity.
Too little exercise, The dietary structure is unreasonable, Excessive calorie intake is the cause of obesity in children. In the final analysis, all these need to be adjusted to children’s behaviors and habits. Children’s adipocyte development has two peaks. The first peak is the first year after living, and then gradually decreases. The second peak occurs in the age of 3-8. Therefore, behavior control from early childhood to preschool age is very important. Children’s food is basically provided by parents. If parents master the science of healthy diet, they can largely avoid the occurrence of childhood obesity.
Secondly, we should create a suitable atmosphere.
All family members need to understand the harm of obesity, and the whole family will work together to achieve good results. If family members cannot agree, then the goal may not be reached at all. Let children also know the harm of obesity and how to change it. Let children also participate. Parents’ healthy behaviors can play a good role in guiding children.
Thirdly, parents’ patience is needed.
Correcting habits is a long-term process. Don’t have quick thoughts that can see immediate results in a month or two. Have confidence in your children. Targeting behavioral changes, Instead of aiming at weight. For example, children should drink 2 cans of Coke together every day. After working together, they can drink 1 can every 2 days. That is to say, there has been progress and we must continue to change.
2. 5-2-1-0 method
What are the keys to the specific operation? You can try the 5-2-1-0 method.
5: It refers to eating more than 5 kinds of vegetables or fruits every day;
2. It is sedentary entertainment such as watching TV or computer for no more than 2 hours every day.
1: It requires more than one hour of exercise every day;
0: Do not drink sweet drinks or carbonated drinks, only drink plain boiled water or skim milk.
Let the children know this rule and work hard to do it together. If the child goes to kindergarten or school, it is better to have the teacher assist in the implementation.
3. Cultivate Children’s Healthy Eating Habits
You can try these methods:
(1) Let the baby experience hunger and satiety; Do not eat snacks or drinks between meals to make up for the lack of food. The interval between meals is 3 hours.
(2) The meal time should not exceed 30 minutes.
(3) New foods may need to be tried many times, and some need to be tried more than 15 times. Don’t beat or scold your child because you don’t like them once. Just try again next time.
(4) Don’t watch TV, tell stories or play with toys when eating.
(5) The atmosphere on the dining table should be pleasant.
(6) Children often imitate parents to eat what food, so parents can eat healthy food and show delicious appearance.
(7) The proportion of food that children do not like to eat can be gradually increased from a small amount.
(8) Encourage children to use tableware by themselves.
(9) Pay attention to the texture of food and provide a variety of foods with different chewing feelings.
(10) Encourage children to use food as toys or tell food stories to increase their interest in food.
Four, if the child is already obese, how to correct it?
Because children are in their growth and development period, quick methods such as dieting and excessive exercise may be harmful to the body.
So should how correct childhood obesity?
The first is to control the intake of high-sugar foods in the diet, replacing candy and fried foods with fruits and cooked foods. No matter how, children cannot be rewarded with snacks such as candy. Instead of simply dieting, the intake of fat and sugar should be reduced and the intake of vegetables should be increased. A healthy diet with the whole family is often better.
The second is to increase the amount of exercise. Encourage children to take part in all kinds of sports activities and try to create suitable conditions. Make children feel that sports are interesting, not boring. If children are overweight, the amount of exercise should gradually increase from childhood.
If the child is overweight and obviously has discomfort, or the effect of adjusting diet and increasing exercise is still not good, he needs to go to the hospital for further help.
Author: Xin Li
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