Ludhiana, April 3
Obesity is emerging to be one of the worst health hazards among adolescent children. While earlier it was considered to be the problem of affluent countries, now it seems to have become a worldwide phenomenon cutting across regional and economic barriers.
Health experts say that in recent years, childhood obesity has emerged as an epidemic in developed countries. It is now a cause of concern as it is being reported in significant numbers from nations, previously considered poor or developing and is no longer a problem of affluent countries only.
In India, little attention has been paid to childhood obesity until recently. A study was carried out on schoolchildren of both sexes, aged between nine and 15 from the city by the Department of Paediatrics, Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), here, recently. The study was conducted under Jugesh Chatwal, Head of the Paediatrics Department.
On comparing the prevalence of obesity among boys and girls of the two local school groups, it was seen that in the affluent school, significantly more boys were overweight. Prevalence of obesity was found to be proportional to the socio-economic status. The prevalence of obesity was 11.1 per cent while 14.2 per cent children were overweight.
“This is the highest prevalence reported so far from the few studies in the Indian subcontinent. In the last decade or so, rising influence, urbanisation, satellite television invasion have changed the lifestyles drastically. Paradoxically, as is happening elsewhere in the developing world, people are using their growing incomes to replace traditional diets rich in fibre and grain with diets which include a greater proportions of fats and calorie sweeteners”, said Dr Chatwal.
The study revealed that burgeoning city populations and increasing school education burden left children hardly any space and time for physical activity. This added to widespread preoccupation with
television. All these were probably responsible for the increasing prevalence of obesity.
It was observed that the number of boys who were obese and overweight was more than girls. The higher prevalence of obesity among male children in the present study could be attributed to the cultural advantages boys enjoy in our country, said Dr Chatwal. “They get larger helping of food, more freedom to go out from the house and also do not contribute much to the household chores”, she added.
The study revealed that more than one tenth of schoolchildren in the age group of nine to 15 were obese, a figure only slightly lower than that reported from most western countries. Compared with earlier studies, there was an increasing trend for obesity among adolescents.
