| A surprising health risk to your child or grandchild |
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By: By DR. MARK KESTNER
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As a parent or grandparent your first instinct concerning your children is to protect them. You are vigilant to protect them from accidental injury and illness. You are watchful during every stage of their life to keep them from harm. You are alert to threats from every direction you can think of.
You may be surprised when I tell you that your child may be facing a greater threat than those you have anticipated. For many children, the lifelong risks associated with childhood obesity are greater than those of any other illness.
If your child becomes severely overweight, the risks increase of developing a very serious adult illness by the time he or she hits puberty. What used to be a problem only for adults is increasingly affecting children and adolescents… Type II diabetes.
In the simplest terms, diabetes is a condition that results when your body is unable to produce enough insulin to control the utilization of blood sugar. There is much more to the diabetes story, but the brief summary is that it can shorten your child’s life by decades.
Type II diabetes is on the rise in adults. Even more alarming is the number of children that are either developing the disease or are at a great risk of developing it soon. Although the biology of this disease is extremely complex, the reasons children are developing it are simple. The children affected are obese and inactive.
Thankfully, most obese children will not develop diabetes as a child or teen. Many, however, will develop a condition known as insulin resistance which is strongly associated with developing diabetes later.
I could tell you what the latest statistics are, but the numbers don’t really matter. What matters to you is the health of your child. As a parent, the alarming statistics are a concern, but your real interest is in helping your own child.
Most children that are overweight will be more overweight as adults. This means their risk of diabetes and many other disease conditions increases. This also means that if your child is overweight now, their weight problem is likely to get worse rather than better.
There is a reason that this article addresses grandparents as well as parents. Helping a child overcome a weight problem may require that all adults in their life work together. This problem did not arise overnight and will likely take months or longer to resolve.
The simple answer to preventing childhood obesity is to provide healthy meals and promote exercise. The actual implementing of this strategy can be more complex.
Some successful parents have eliminated most if not all “empty calorie” snacks and allow their child to eat as many healthy snacks as they choose. They regard the “white foods” as enemy No. 1. This includes all junk food made mostly of white sugar and white flour.
Other parents have worked hard to get their children more active. This tactic may be met with more resistance than the elimination of junk snacks. Compared to sitting in front of addictive video games, “go outside and play” isn’t that appealing to many kids.
Unfortunately, as parents, you face an uphill battle. Kids (and adults) are constantly bombarded with commercials urging them to consume unhealthy foods. They are surrounded by tempting junk foods, even in school vending machines. All their friends face the same problems. There is a lot of resistance to trying to help your child develop healthy habits.
You will not get much help from our fast-food society, your child’s school, or their friends. The only help your child gets is going to come from you. If you recognize that your child is at risk of becoming overweight, take time to develop an action plan to help them. Anything you do to improve their eating habits and get them moving will be a step in the right direction.
Next week this column will be about how the habits of mothers-to-be can affect the health of their child. Until then, look for ways to help your child develop into the healthy adult that they are capable of becoming.
Dr. Mark Kestner
mkestner@DrKestner.com
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