29.2.12

The many dangers of childhood obesity

Most weight-related health conditions involve time. This means that sometimes it can take a long time for the more serious symptoms to start showing up. Of course, the stage is definitely set and things are set in motion during the early years when a child suffers from obesity. Still, kids don't usually have as many medical problems result from obesity because they are still young. But the condition in and of itself is definitely a risk factor for later on when adult sized conditions and problems develop.

Liver disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, certain kinds of cancer, diabetes and stroke are all serious possibilities.The particular medical conditions that any young person, child or teen who is obese will experience can be highly variable. Childhood ObesityThere are many influences, some of which will be genetic in nature. Kids and teens who suffer from severe obesity are more likely to develop a variety of conditions that cause problems for joints and bones.

Load bearing joints, in particular, are more likely to develop issues. The skeletal stress will occur in the hips, knees, ankles and feet. Kids who deal with joint pain usually have back pain too as well as swelling around all of their joints.

The most serious risk factors will be in the cardiovascular system. Elevated serum cholesterol and triglycerides in fatty blood profiles are something obese children are known to have. Because these heart diseases start early in life, they need to be intervened immediately. A child may have to take prescription medication to counter the effects of high cholesterol so just think about this. There are known side effects that adults accept when they have to take these medications.

When taking this medication it can be complicated for a young child or a teen

Researchers are still trying to figure out if there is a direct connection between early onset puberty (especially in girls though boys can deal with it too) and obesity in kids. Of course there is definitely more common sense and looking at the things we know now involved. To use a couple of examples we already know that kids who are overweight and obese go into puberty sooner and grow more quickly than non obese kids. It is still a situation, however, in which causality needs to be more definitely defined.

While this is obviously not that serious a threat as the other obesity related problems, there are definitely serious implications that accompany abnormally young ages for the onset of puberty.It's easy to see that these children are at a major social and physical disadvantage once they have gotten to this point.

We all know how hard it is to lose weight and that you have to be very determined and have lots of support to do it. It is important for parents and friends to offer as much support as they can. Children and young adults are very resilient and can usually bounce back once a more healthy direction is taken. But of course the clincher is whether or not the children already suffer from any major medical conditions.