Unhealthy Eating Habits and Childhood Obesity

Obesity in children is a growing public health concern (Memedi, Tasic, Nikolic, Jancevska, Gucev, 2013). According to the report of (WHO2018) “in just 40 years the number of school-age children and adolescents with obesity has risen more than 10-fold, from 11 million to 124 million (2016 estimates)” (2018). According to Sahoo, Sahoo, Choudhury, Sufi, Kumar & Bhadoria, (2015), obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.

Maidenberg (2016) explained that unhealthy eating habits are directly linked to childhood obesity. According to Memedi, Tasic, Nikolic, Jancevska, Gucev, (2013), intake of excessive amount of junk food and processed food instead of home cooked food leads to fatness, also called obesity, for these excess calories are stored as fat or adipose tissues. Moreover, drinking sugary and sweet cold drinks, using vegetable oils in regular cooking are the other dietary causes of obesity, but there are some non-dietary factors which have great contribution in causing obesity such as lack of exercise, oversleeping, lack of sleep, and depression. 

Furthermore, according to Maidenberg (2016), nowadays, children spend most of their time in sedentary activities such as watching television, playing video games, and using smart phones, and they avoid physical activities. The world health organisation, (2018) suggested that every day, a child should do exercise for one hour, yet they are not following this protocol. This is also a reason that more than 38 million children under 5 years of age are overweighed. WHO’s target is to reduce the number of obese children by 2025. Memedi, Tasic, Nikolic, Jancevska, Gucev, (2013) suggested that, even though there are various ill effects of steroids and other medications, children consume these medicines, but they are at the risk of having more weight than normal.

There are many researches are under process to tackle this issue. Sahoo, Sahoo, Choudhury, Sufi, Kumar & Bhadoria, (2015) concluded that decreased physical activities have a greater impact on Body Mass Index (BMI), so it is vital to avoid those practices which can lead to obesity, and Maidenberg (2016) found that it is necessary to examine the connections of these causes with obesity or overweight because it helps to make policies and interventions to handle this problem. 

Moreover, according to Singer & Lumeng, (2017), there are ample of factors contribute in childhood obesity, and it does not start instantly; in fact in pre-natal, natal and post-natal stages metabolic inflammation started that result in childhood obesity. Although maximum nations are still off- track to meet the 2025 aim, some of the countries are working to achieve a goal to reduce childhood obesity rate. The more people will take care of health of their children will help to meet the target of global health (WHO, 2018).