Obesity in Children
By – Diana W. Guthrie, PhD, ARNP

There is an increasing awareness that being overweight or, with a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 29, obese is of epidemic proportions in the United States and even Kansas.  This means that over 50% of the population, including children, is overweight.  In Kansas alone, 13.6 percent of children ages two to five are overweight.  Being overweight is hard on the heart let alone the total body.  Nearly one in four children are either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.  More importantly, one out of every four children born in 2003 or so has the potential of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus as an adult. 

An estimated 40,000 adolescents in our country have type 2 diabetes, and 2.4 million more may have a fasting glucose greater than 100 mg/dl.  If a boy or girl suddenly puts on 20 pounds (might have type 2 diabetes) or has a sudden weight loss (might have type 1 diabetes), that child should be ear-marked to be screened.  The American Diabetes Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics state that those children who have a BMI greater than the 85^th percentile for their age and have two of the following: a history of diabetes in the family, a darkening and thickening of the skin in the neck and possibly the axilla (acanthosis nigricans), or are predominantly non-white.   

 For many children, this may start out as a silent disease rather than the child having frequent urination, great thirst, and/or eating a lot without gaining weight.  In most cases, these symptoms appear to occur earlier in children than in adults.  The time when this weight problem seems to be the greatest is between the ages of 13-15, but younger children that pack on the pounds are at great risk, too.

 With the rising cost of everything and the attempt of schools to put in as much education as possible into each school day, physical education classes have been decreased or completely omitted.  At home, computer games and TV has kept the child inside rather than outside or becoming involved in activities that require movement.  If more calories are taken in (not just carbohydrates) than are expended through exercise and activity, weight gain is the outcome.  If the genetics are there to support this weight gain, then diabetes eventually becomes the resulting diagnosis.

 Walking together as a family, dancing at home to lively music, playing various games involving a ball, being creative in jumping rope are a few of the activities.

See Kansas coalition for a Healthier Generation (KCSG)