Parents shrug it off, kids eat their way to obesity

Sumeer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 15

Owing to lack of awareness regarding obesity disorders among parents, a number of children are getting detected through ‘incidental diagnosis’ at hospitals in the city.

Doctors said it was a disturbing trend and children who are not getting diagnosed for obesity at an early stage, might have serious health issues in later years.

Poor eating habits coupled with sedentary lifestyle have taken a heavy toll on the health of children.

Paediatricians have warned that parents’ craving for a ‘plump child’ might land them in a serious trouble when they turn older and it (plumpness) must not be misconstrued with sound health.

Dr Robin Maheshwari, paediatrician at Maheshwari Children’s Hospital in the city, said, “There has been a substantial increase in the number of children getting detected for obesity via incidental diagnosis in past five to seven years. On daily basis, at the paediatrics unit, we come across around eight to 10 obese children who have come to us to get treatment for some other disease.”

“A casual approach of parents has been encouraging children to continue with their poor eating habits. Lack of awareness among parents regarding hazardous impacts of poor eating habits and mushrooming of international food chains in tier-2 and tier-3 cities has done more harm to children’s health than anything else,” added Dr Maheshwari.

He also warned that arteries of children have started getting clogged (partly) at an age of 15 or 18, which was certainly not a good sign in the longer-run.

If not monitored now, these children would start facing age-associated diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes, hypertension, kidney failure, cataract, osteoporosis and arthritis.

Unmindful of serious health implications, including chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (high cholesterol levels), diabetes and even impotency in longer-run, parents can often be seen letting their children satiate their taste buds by gobbling fast food (junk food) at eating joints and roadside vends.

Talking to Bathinda Tribune, Dr Ravi Kant Gupta, paediatrician at Mother and Child Hospital (a unit of the Civil Hospital), said,

cONTINUED ON PAGE 2