CHILD OBESITY: A GROWING PROBLEM IN THE WORLD

Child obesity has become a serious problem in the world. It is therefore the subject of child obesity cannot be taken for granted. Photo: bbc.com  

 

By GITIKA POUDEL

Owing to an improved economy more kids have a comfortable lifestyle today than in the past. However, due to the rapid pace of urbanization, children do not have enough space to play around.

 

The dearth of playgrounds has forced many children to spend their leisure time playing video games and watching cartoon networks on television. Moreover, several fast-food outlets have only made things go bad to worse. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of obese European children has tripled since the 1980s, and 1 in 3 children aged 6-9 years old are overweight or obese.

 

The statistics show that the child obesity rate has increased in middle-income countries, where more children are getting obese. Children are more at health risk than adults are. Obese children might be the victims of various health complications affecting their physical and mental growth.

 

Nowadays children eat more junk foods and those junk foods are easily available almost everywhere. For children’s such habits, parents are also responsible to some extent. They occasionally take their families to nearby restaurants and eat calorie-rich foods. Since parents are busy, they are unable to prepare Tiffin for them. They give money to their children and ask them to eat what they like. In a situation like this children will definitely eat junk foods.

 

One more reason for child obesity is that nowadays schools give more homework to students. This way they want to keep students busy. Such tendency of schools consumes most of the children’s time in doing homework. As a result, they don't get enough time for outdoor activities.

 

Though obesity is a problem, it doesn't mean that the problem cannot be dealt with. Schools should encourage children to participate in sporting activities, and parents should take their children to nearby parks as often as possible. 

It is parents’ duty to advise their children to stay away from junk foods and not spend more time watching television and playing video games. Thus, an adequate amount of physical activities and eating healthy foods can keep children healthy and physically fit.

About the author

Gitika Poudel has recently completed her High school at Sagarmatha Secondary School, Pokhara. Adventure-loving Gitika had joined Junior Red Cross Society in her early elementary school years. Now she is thinking of going abroad to study B.Sc. Nursing.  

LEGAL WARNING

All rights reserved. No articles and photos published in this blog can be reproduced without the prior written permission of the author. Legal action will be taken immediately if any articles or photos are reproduced without the author’s knowledge. However, articles or photos can only be reproduced by duly mentioning the author’s name and the blog's name (read2bhappy.blogspot.com). The author must be informed by sending an email. All articles and the photos published in this blog are the copyright property of LB THAPA.