Health risks of childhood obesity

Being overweight or obese in childhood has consequences for health in both the short term and the longer term. Once established, obesity is notoriously difficult to treat, so prevention and early intervention are very important.

Mental health

The emotional and psychological effects of being overweight are often seen as the most immediate and most serious by children themselves. They include teasing and discrimination by peers; low self-esteem; anxiety and depression. In one study, severely obese children rated their quality of life as low as children with cancer on chemotherapy (Schwimmer et al 2003). Obese children may also suffer disturbed sleep and fatigue.

Physical health

Overweight and obese children are more likely to become obese adults, and have a higher risk of morbidity, disability and premature mortality in adulthood. Although many of the most serious consequences may not become apparent until adulthood, the effects of obesity – for example, raised blood pressure, fatty changes to the arterial linings and hormonal and chemical changes such as raised cholesterol and metabolic syndrome – can be identified in obese children and adolescents.

Some obesity-related conditions can develop during childhood. Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in overweight children as young as five, and has been dubbed ‘diabesity’. The global rise in obesity and Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents has led to an urgent call for action by the International Diabetes Federation, which warns that the world is currently facing a twin epidemic of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in young people.

Other health risks of childhood obesity include early puberty, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, skin infections, and asthma and other respiratory problems. Some musculoskeletal disorders are also more common, including slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) and tibia vara (Blount disease)

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Further reading:

Cornette R (2008) The Emotional Impact of Obesity on Children Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing 5 (3): 136-141

Dietz W (1998). Health consequences of obesity in youth: Childhood predictors of adult disease. Pediatrics 101:518–525.

Freedman DS, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS (1999a) The relation of overweight to cardiovascular risk factors among children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Paediatrics 103:1175-1182.

Freedman DS, Mei Z, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS, Dietz WH. Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study (2007). J Pediatr. 50(1):12–17.e2

International Diabetes Federation website: http://www.idf.org/children-and-type-2-diabetes/

Krassas GE, Tzotzas T (2004) Do obese children become obese adults: childhood predictors of adult disease. Pediatric Endocrn Rev 1 (Suppl 3):455-459.

Maleka-Tendera E, Erhardt E, Molnar D (2004) Type-2 diabetes in obese children and adolescents. In: Caroli MA, Chandra RK, Frelut ML (eds) Childhood obesity from basic sciences to public health. Giuseppe de Nicola, Napoli, pp167-180.

Mallory GB, Fiser DH, Jackson R. (1989) Sleep-associated breathing disorders in morbidly obese children and adolescents. J Pediatr 115:892–897.

Must A, Anderson SE. (2003) Effects of obesity on morbidity in children and adolescents. Nutr Clin Care 6:1;4–11.

Must A, Jacques PF, Dallal GE, Bajema CJ, Dietz WH. 1992 Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents. A follow-up of the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935. New England Medical Journal 5;327(19):1350-5

Reilly, J.J. (2005). Descriptive epidemiology and health consequences of childhood obesity. Best Practice and Research in Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 19(3): 327-341.

Rodriguez MA, Winkleby MA, Ahn D, Sundquist J, Kraemer HC. (2002) Identification of populations subgroups of children and adolescents with high asthma prevalence: findings from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 156:269–275.

Schwimmer, J.B., Burwinkle, T.M and Varni, J.W. (2003) Health-Related Quality of Life of Severely Obese Children and Adolescents. JAMA 289: 1813-1819 .

Serdula M, Ivery D, Coates R, Freedman D, Williamson D, Byers T. (1993) Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature. Preventive Medicine. 22 (2):167-77

Whitaker R.C., Wright J.A., Pepe M.S. et al (1997). Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. NEJM

World Health Organization website: ,http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/index.html