Obesity and overweight are the second most major
reasons of preventable deaths in America. Stagnant
lifestyle and junk food is to be blamed for more than
three hundred thousand deaths per annum. The sad thing
is that this problem is on the rise. Obesity is a
chronic disease which poses serious health risk to the
health of an individual. Also, obesity is the easiest
recognizable medical problem, but is very difficult to
deal with.
People usually confuse obesity with overweight.
Overweight is gaining of a few extra pounds. A person is
considered obese when the total body weight is minimum
ten percent more than the recommended weight for his/her
body structure and height. According to an estimate
every year hundred billion dollars are spent on the
obesity problem. It is very important to treat the
problem as early as possible. Obese children between the
age of ten and thirteen have eighty percent chances of
growing into obese adults, unless they change their ways
and adopt a healthier lifestyle. The obesity problem
starts from the age of five and continue till
adolescence.
Obesity can be caused due to complex reasons including
biological, genetic, cultural and behavioral factors.
Usually a person gets obese when he/she consumes more
calories than the body burns. Also there are fifty
percent chances of becoming obese when both one of the
parent is obese and when obesity has affected both the
parents, the chances increases to eighty percent. One
percent of obese people can have that fat because of
health reasons, as obesity can be caused due to few
medical disorders. The causes of obesity in adolescence
are overeating, family history, bad eating habits,
little or no exercise, medical illness, low self esteem,
medications, depression, emotional problems, stressful
life, and family problem.
Obesity can cause many major problems. Some of them are
diabetes, sleeping disorders, high blood pressure,
breathing problems, emotional problems and increase in
heart disease risk. Teenagers are more prone to get
emotional problems. Because of the weight, they develop
low self esteem. They get into depression, obsessive
compulsion disorder and anxiety.
Adolescents who want to tackle the obesity problem
should approach a pediatrician who will thoroughly
evaluate the cause. If no physical disorder is to be
blamed, the weight is reduced by limiting the calorie
intake and increasing physical activity. The doctor can
advice a weight management program and change the eating
habits of the teenager, slowly. The patient must avoid
oily, fatty, fast and junk food. The potions must be
reduced in order to decrease the calorie intake. If the
adolescent has developed emotional problems because of
obesity, an adolescent psychiatrist can collaborate with
the pediatrician in order to make a comprehensive plan
for treatment. The plan includes reasonable goals,
behavior modification, family participation, and
management of physical activity.
Self motivation is extremely necessary in loosing
weight. Because obesity is more a family problem and not
an individual problem, the whole family can switch to
eating healthy food and exercising regularly. This can
make the weight control program a success. Parents can
play a major role by boosting the self esteem of their
children by concentrating on their strengths and
encouraging them, instead of targeting the weight
problem. The whole family should eat meals together,
instead of eating individually while watching a movie.
This helps all the members to focus on the food and the
quantity being eaten. If the teenager isn’t getting
support from his family members, he/she can join support
groups which can help towards the goals.
After the adolescent has lost weight, it is very
important that he/she maintains it. In majority of the
cases, people shift back to their old eating habits
after loosing weight. That is the reason why obesity is
more of a lifetime issue. So the main aim of any weight
loss program must be make the adolescent like healthy
food. He/she must also be made to exercise regularly,
irrespective of the weight.
