Obesity in Indian Children Increasing at an Alarming Rate!

The trend of eating fast foods and other calorie rich stuffs has started spreading its wings in India as well. This is the reason why a lot of children in India are turning out to be obese at a very small age. No doubt, there are numerous kinds of illness and health issues related to obesity, particularly in kids. And, when we see such kids in our neighborhood, we should really feel worried about their future. Quite certainly, it is the ignorance of their parents that is causing this kind of situation. Most parents think that if their kids are plump and chubby then they are healthy. However, having excessive fat content in the body is absolutely unhealthy. And, this is something the parents have to understand.

Why is Obesity so Dangerous?

If we compare the health aspect of children with the normal weight of those who are overweight, we will figure out that the latter ones face a greater risk of suffering from respiratory complications, development high BP (blood pressure), Type 2 Diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. In addition, obesity also affects the life span of the kids. These days, one comes across many stories of kids having Type 2 diabetes, which is turning out to be one of the most common forms of health issue—even 6-yrs old kids are now suffering from Type 2 diabetes! So, these things are really worrisome and something must be done about the same.

Considering the fact that India is a nation where a lot of kids are malnourished and almost 270 million people fall in the BPL (below the poverty line) category, it seems really ironic to take the fact that India stands in the 3^rd position in the list of countries of most obese kids. Sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption, and junk foods are the three prime reasons that are pushing us towards self destruction. For kids, junk foods and electronic gadgets are turning out to be the best friends. Most of the junk foods contain high amount of fats, particularly trans-fat, which is quite dangerous for their bodies.

Way Forward

Ignorant parents hardly pay attention to what their kids are eating for breakfast or evening time snacks. Quite obviously, it is the busy lifestyle of working parents that compel them to depend on processed foods to feed their kids on time. However, the calorie contents in junk foods or processed foods are too high, and comprise of carbohydrates, and trans-fatty acid. As per the findings of a research which was conducted across11 schools located in an urban region across five different zones in India, almost 18.2 percent of all children aged between 2 and 17 were obese or overweight. During the last 3 decades, the increase in the rate of obesity has become twice for adolescents and preschool-age kids. With these alarming figures on the rise, parents have to understand that being fat is not healthy, but a sign of unhealthy lifestyle.