Obesity is no longer just a condition, it has been labelled a disease. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics has updated the guidelines after seeing the increasing rate of obese children in India. According to the guidelines, obesity will now be called a disease. This will also apply to adults, but the basis of this definition is the health of children.
According to the National Family Health Survey 5, which was conducted in 2020, 3.5 per cent of children under 5 years of age in India are obese. This is an increase of 50 per cent compared to the data of NFHS 4 conducted five years earlier in 2015. According to some studies, obesity in India has increased 24 times in the last 2 to 3 decades.
According to America's Center for Disease Control, waist circumference in children should be half of their height. If it is more than this, then children will be considered obese. For example, if the height of the child is 120 centimeters i.e. 4 feet, then his waist circumference should be less than 60 cm i.e. less than 24 inches.
According to the survey of Sports Village Schools conducted across the country in 2021, more than 51 per cent of the children of Delhi are unhealthy. Whereas in 2020, the number of children suffering from obesity in Delhi was 50 per cent. The condition of two other cities of the country, Bengaluru and Chennai, is worse than Delhi, where this figure is 53%.
How smartphones are also responsible for obesity
According to a recent survey by a mobile phone company, 83% of children feel that mobile phones are an integral part of their lives while 91% of children believe that they enjoy more if they talk to their parents face to face. Children are spending an average of 6 and a half hours on the phone. This means that they are sitting idle all this time and are devoting their time to mobile instead of playing sports.
Some parents are so serious about the health of their children that they pay attention to their height and weight from the first year of birth. But once children grow up, they stay away from home food and come closer to junk food.
Indian Academy of Pediatrics has placed obesity in the category of a disease. The reason for this is also clear. Obese children are becoming victims of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease in their youth. Hence, it is important to diagnose obesity in the early stage.
Compared to Western countries, obesity leads to diseases more quickly in people living in Asian countries. Hence, it is important to recognize the disease of obesity in young children. In the initial stages, obesity can be reduced by eating food low in fat and carbohydrates. But if obesity increases, it may require medication and in very serious cases, surgery may be required.
