Childhood Obesity

The U.S. Paediatric Academic Societies 2005 Annual Meeting recently addressed the issue of childhood obesity in America.

The statistics are frightening:
-The prevalence of obesity has doubled since the 1970's for children aged 2-5yrs and aged 12-19
- It has trippled in the same time for children aged 6- 11

The consequences of this are, amoung other things, an increased rate of Type 2 Diabetes in children and an emerging increase in the
Metabolic Syndrome (also known as Syndrome X).

While contributiong factors have been identified, a definitive list of risk factors for childhood obesity is still elusive and more well conducted research in the area is much needed.

The integrated approaches suggested for tackling the issue are interesting, as no-one - whether govenment policy maker, food producer, marketeer, school, parent, or healthcare provider is exempt from responsibility.

One suggestion is that health carers (doctors, nurses, dietitians etc) really must lead more by example. Physician heal thyself or practice what you preach? How refreshing would that be?