Obesity epidemic taking its toll on younger generation

Did you know that obesity is considered a chronic disease? It has already reached epidemic proportions in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of US adults (over 78mn people) are obese.“It’s no secret that weight gain occurs easily, and weight loss can be a bit more challenging. Although there are genetic and hormonal influences on body weight, obesity occurs when you take in more calories than you burn through exercise and normal daily activities,” says Dr Seanna Thompson, Mayo Clinic Health System OB-GYN physician. “Your body stores these excess calories as fat. As fat cells accumulate, so do the pounds you carry around your body each day.”Significant health risks are associated with obesity. Obesity is linked to dozens of other chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Numerous cancers - including female reproductive tumours - are also associated with being overweight or obese.The epidemic of child obesity was highlighted yesterday when a three-year-old toddler who tipped the scales at 35kg (77lb) became one of the youngest people ever diagnosed with a lifestyle-related form of diabetes that strikes adults. Weighing as much as an average 11-year-old, and double the average for her own age, the toddler was brought to a paediatric clinic in Texas to examine her weight gain as well as excessive urination and thirst - classic diabetes symptoms. The girl tested negative for an array of conditions including type 1 diabetes - a chronic illness which is usually diagnosed in children and requires lifelong insulin therapy. She was instead diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a much more common form of the disease - in adults. Lifestyle factors such as a lack of exercise and being overweight are believed to be contributing factors for type 2 diabetes, which until a few years ago was almost unheard of in people under 30. Doctors have been warning of children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at an ever younger age. Most of them are overweight.A new US government report says that more than one in three American kids will eat fast food today. The same will be true tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.On any given day, 34.3% of US children and teens between the ages of 2 and 19 eats pizza, fried chicken, tacos or some other dish prepared in a fast-food restaurant.More specifically, 12.1% of these young diners will get more than 40% of their daily calories in the form of fast food. An additional 10.7% will trace 25% to 40% of their daily calories to a fast-food joint, and 11.6% will get fewer than 25% of their calories from one of these dining establishments.Fast food is not solely an American problem. It is a lifestyle across the world. Unless young and old alike watch their food habits and cut down calories obesity is here to stay.Monitoring food intake and incorporating regular physical activity is important to achieve long-term success.