Next up in 5
Example video title will go here for this video
ODESSA, Texas — Obesity in children and adolescents is a problem that continues to get worse.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, extended growth charts for assessing growth and treatment of children with severe obesity.
The CDC intends for this change to get out in front of childhood obesity and catch it earlier before it becomes a severe issue.
There are ways to treat obesity, but it’s really up to people to take control of their lives, and a bad start can lead to lifelong health problems.
“Obesity in children is a growing problem,” said Lawrence Voesack, MD, a doctor in the Odessa area.
Severe obesity is defined as a body mass index, or BMI, greater than or equal to 120% of the 95th percentile on BMI-for-age growth charts.
While it sounds complex, the BMI increases as age increases, and the percentiles recognize the levels of obesity.
Obesity in people ages 2-19 continues to worsen.
“The amount of children that are heavier than they should be starts, probably, at two years of age, and just increases from there,” said Voesack.
This forced the CDC to make a change by extending the growth charts, which should help medical providers classify severe obesity in children and adolescents earlier.
The early development of children is highly important for later on in life.
“One thing you have to remember is that a child develops the total number of fat cells that they will have in their body for their total life before the age of 10,” said Voesack. “After that, fat cells just shrink or decrease in size, or they increase in size based on your diet.”
Voesack says this is a widespread problem in the United States more so than in other countries, and he has tips for parents to keep their children healthy.
“The best thing that parents can do is the foods that the children should not eat or drink, they should just not have them in the house, because if those types of things are in the house, in the refrigerator, in the cupboards, those children are going to eat those things versus eating the foods that are better for them,” said Voesack.
Bad food choices include high processed food, higher sugar content and higher carbohydrates.
Activity level is also important, and a healthy lifestyle at a young age can help avoid problems later in life from obesity that could lead to diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings.