Childhood Obesity- Doctors warning parents
July 4, 2007
With many parents seemingly in denial that
their children are obese, doctors want to give them more objective evidence – such as the size of their waists – that would show beyond a doubt that the problem is real, the
Globe and Mail reported.
“The whole idea is talking about, in more ways than one, preventing obesity to prevent diabetes‚” said Dr.
David Lau, a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary. “We’re all looking for answers and for new information to see what we can do to combat the obesity epidemic.”
The hard fact, Lau told the
Globe and Mail, is that many Canadian kids risk premature death from diabetes if more is not done to halt this epidemic. According to
Health Canada, the proportion of children who fit the medical definition of “obese” has nearly tripled in the last 25 years.
“The current generation of teenagers may well have a shorter life expectancy than their parents,” Lau said.
Lau and others want to go beyond the popular
Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements and make a child’s waist circumference part of routine health check-ups.
“Waist circumference is the big topic in obesity and diabetes right now,” said Dr.
Paul Zimmet, an epidemiologist at Monash University in Australia.
But doctors disagree whether a positive or negative approach would be the most effective in framing their message about a child’s weight problems. Some are calling for more of a “tough love” approach with parents, by making more frequent use of the medical terms “obese” and “overweight” in their diagnoses.
Others balk at the idea, claiming such language would stigmatize and embarrass children.
“I don’t like the word ‘obesity.’ I think it has a very negative sound to it,” said
Randy Calvert, manager of the Children’s Exercise and Nutrition Centre at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. “If we are trying to combat the epidemic of obesity‚ we need to try and do that in a very positive way.”
But Lau warns the stumbling block remains that many parents are simply not convinced that their kids are actually overweight. “Some parents don’t know how much to feed their kids. If their kids are hungry‚ they just keep feeding them‚” he said.
Meanwhile, the
Globe and Mail also reported that as more and more people understand the seriousness of childhood obesity‚ “toy companies, fitness chains and savvy entrepreneurs are responding with miniature exercise equipment, tot-friendly gyms and even pint-sized workout wear.”
Calvert welcomes this approach as a necessary component to addressing the problem. But Heather McKay of the
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute prefers that children be encouraged to get active in more traditional ways.
“We’re taking children so far away from creative play,” she said. “We’re creating artificial adult environments for children, which seems truly unfortunate, if you ask me.”
Childhood Obesity- Doctors warning parents 
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