Management of Childhood Obesity

MANAGEMENT OF
CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Epidemiology
According to the World
Health Organization,
Australia has the second
highest number of obese
males and the fifth highest
rate of obese women
globally. An individual is
classified as obese if he/she
has a BMI of 30 kg/m2
(Avsar, Ham, & Tannous,
2017).
In 2015, the World Health
Organization found out that
67.4 of the Australian adults
are obese. These is a public
health issue and there is the
need for urgent
interventions to combat the
situation (Avsar, Ham, &
Tannous, 2017). Several
strategies have been
proposed and management
of childhood obesity has
several positive health
impacts on the general
population.
Interventions to prevent
obesity.
Studies propose different
evidence based strategies in
controlling or management
of childhood obesity. They
include:
 Regular physical
exercises
 Healthy eating
habits
Health impacts.
Managing childhood obesity
has several positive health
impacts on the population of
Australia. First of all, it
lowers the risk of
cardiovascular diseases. As
explained in previous
sections, management of
childhood obesity involves
modifying lifestyles. This
includes engaging in
physical activities and eating
a healthy diet. In a parallel
study examining the impact
of diet on cardiovascular
diseases, results found out
that eating fruits, vegetables
and nuts reduce the level of
cholesterol in the body. The
study notes that about 60%
of the participants reported
low cholesterol after
subscribing to such diet. This
diet do not only have
positive impacts on obesity
alone (Wei et al., 2017).
They also lower the risk of
cardiovascular diseases by
25%. This generally implies
that managing childhood
obesity involves lowering
cholesterol in blood which in
return also reduce the risk of
cardiovascular diseases like
stroke and hypertension.
Another positive health
impact of managing
childhood obesity is low
prevalence of type 2
diabetes mellitus.
Management of childhood
obesity according to an
article by Sabin and Kiess
can be achieved through
regular exercise (Sabin &
Kiess, 2015). Regular
exercise reduces the amount
of adipose tissue in the
viscera. However, this does
not only improve obesity.
Regular exercise reduce the
risk of insulin resistance that
leads to type 2 diabetes. The
two authors further
illustrates that adiposity at
the viscera leads to
production of retinol binding
protein 4. This is the
compound that stimulates
insulin resistance in the
tissues. With exercise
however, there is minimal
buildup of adipose tissue.
Subsequently, no retinol
binding protein is produced
and this reduce the risk of
insulin resistance and type 2
diabetes mellitus.
Obesity kills, relevant
stakeholders should join
hands to eradicate obesity in
Australia.
References
Avsar, G., Ham, R., &
Tannous, W. (2017). Factors
Influencing the Incidence of
Obesity in Australia: A
Generalized Ordered Probit
Model.
International Journal
of Environmental Research
and Public Health,
14(2),
177.
doi:10.3390/ijerph14020177