Childhood obesity is a problem in Scotland. As the Scottish Government reports, in 2009, almost a third of children (29.7%) were outwith the healthy weight range (31.0% of boys and 28.3% of girls).
The usual response is to focus on overweight children and get them to eat less and get more active. Canadian research shows that there is no marked differences in physical activity between overweight and lean children, at least not when corrected for the increased effort it takes to move larger bodies. Based on actual measurements of physical activity using sophisticated accelerometric devices, only 5% of Canadian adults and children meet the recommended levels for vigorous physical activity per week. It is probably the same in Scotland. If only 5%, then not just the overweight are inactive.
New research from Germany looked at why some children get fat and some remain lean, given that they seem to behave more or less the same way and live in the same environment. They tested the following risk factors on children's BMI: maternal BMI, maternal smoking in pregnancy, low parental socioeconomic status, lack of breast feeding and high TV viewing time .
It turns out that the estimated effects of all risk factors (except lack of breastfeeding) on BMI were greatest for children who have the highest BMI. In other words, it is not that lean children don’t also watch a lot of TV or have mothers who smoked during pregnancy. It’s that fatter children are more sensitive to these factors than thinner children.
Thus, children who are genetically predisposed to obesity are far more likely to pack on the pounds when spending hours in front of the TV than children who are genetically less prone to put on weight. The same could probably be said for overeating or any of the other environmental drivers of obesity, which have greater effects in promoting weight gain in some children than in others.
So, what to make of this then? It seems a bit of a lottery. Children who are genetically sensitive to becoming overweight will eat and behave just the same as other children, but they get fat and the others don`t. As a parent, this says one thing to me. Protect all children from the risk because we have no real way of knowing who is sensitive.
That means, going out for walks with your children, encouraging them to take up dancing or drumming or football, whatever physical exercise pleases them. Reduce the obsogenic risks in the household - that is, don`t buy biscuits, sweets, takeaways routinely. Reduce screen time to less than 4 hours a day. Our modern lifestyle provides the great risk of obesity.
The usual response is to focus on overweight children and get them to eat less and get more active. Canadian research shows that there is no marked differences in physical activity between overweight and lean children, at least not when corrected for the increased effort it takes to move larger bodies. Based on actual measurements of physical activity using sophisticated accelerometric devices, only 5% of Canadian adults and children meet the recommended levels for vigorous physical activity per week. It is probably the same in Scotland. If only 5%, then not just the overweight are inactive.
New research from Germany looked at why some children get fat and some remain lean, given that they seem to behave more or less the same way and live in the same environment. They tested the following risk factors on children's BMI: maternal BMI, maternal smoking in pregnancy, low parental socioeconomic status, lack of breast feeding and high TV viewing time .
It turns out that the estimated effects of all risk factors (except lack of breastfeeding) on BMI were greatest for children who have the highest BMI. In other words, it is not that lean children don’t also watch a lot of TV or have mothers who smoked during pregnancy. It’s that fatter children are more sensitive to these factors than thinner children.
Thus, children who are genetically predisposed to obesity are far more likely to pack on the pounds when spending hours in front of the TV than children who are genetically less prone to put on weight. The same could probably be said for overeating or any of the other environmental drivers of obesity, which have greater effects in promoting weight gain in some children than in others.
So, what to make of this then? It seems a bit of a lottery. Children who are genetically sensitive to becoming overweight will eat and behave just the same as other children, but they get fat and the others don`t. As a parent, this says one thing to me. Protect all children from the risk because we have no real way of knowing who is sensitive.
That means, going out for walks with your children, encouraging them to take up dancing or drumming or football, whatever physical exercise pleases them. Reduce the obsogenic risks in the household - that is, don`t buy biscuits, sweets, takeaways routinely. Reduce screen time to less than 4 hours a day. Our modern lifestyle provides the great risk of obesity.
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