The Childhood Obesity Is Increasing Every Day As An Important Public Health Problem

Today, obesity ranks second after smoking among preventable deaths. The World Health Organization points out obesity are one of the important public health problems. The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing day by day all over the world. The prevalence of obesity increased almost threefold between 1975 and 2016 of worldwide. According to Turkey Statistical Institute’s (TSI) data of 2016, the proportion of obese individuals 15 years and older in Turkey were found to be 19.6%. In addition, according to Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative’s (COSI-TUR) data of 2016, the rate of being overweight in 2nd grade primary school children is 14.6% and obesity rate is 9.9%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as "abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health ". Obesity is a multifactorial condition affected by genetic and non-genetic factors. Childhood obesity is not only limited to childhood; it also paves the way for most of them to continue their lives as obese adults in the future. Obesity causes; type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and some types of cancer and obesity brings along not only biological but also psychological problems in individuals. For this reason, our priority as healthcare professionals isn’t to treat obesity after it develops; it is preventive measures to be taken prevention of the development of obesity starting from infancy and even prenatal period in the womb. In order to provide primary prevention in obesity, the factors that play a role in etiology should be known and evaluated.
It is seen that only 1-2% of childhood obesities develop due to the underlying diseases and syndromes and that very large rate is caused by exogenous obesity that is, the calorie taken is more than the energy consumed, and therefore it is a preventable property.
It is thought that obesity is developing when nurture factors interact with some nature factors. The feeding of the baby starts in the mother's womb and it is known that the mother's diet from the prenatal period affects the baby's future quality of life. Because of the content of protein and calorie is lower than formulas, breast milk and therefore breastfeeding is protective against obesity in the later years of life. Studies show that, not taking breast milk or weaning early in the infancy causes a tendency to obesity. Nowadays, the time spent with television, mobile phones and computers is increasing day by day and it is known that the frequency of obesity increases when the time spent in front of the screen increases. It has been shown that every 1 hour spent in front of the screen increases obesity by 7% in adulthood. Also it has been shown that children who spend more than 4 hours in front of a screen (television, tablet, video, computer, etc.) during the day show less physical activity and have more body mass indexes than children who spend less than 2 hours a day. Again, researches show that when the time of sleep decreases, the obesity percentage is increase. Therefore it is important that; children should not be allowed to watch television, tablet, mobile phone or computer in the first two years, after the age of two the screen exposure doesn’t exceed 2 hour/day, food is not eaten in front of the television and screen and there is no television, mobile phone and tablet in the children's room. At the same time, maintaining healthy eating habits together with regular sleep habits is important for weight control. Individual, family, school and community-based measures are all very important in preventing childhood and adolescent obesity. The family, especially the mother, has a great responsibility in the gain a habit of healthy eating and in maintaining the physical activity of the child. After that, from the preschool period, the educators are effective in the development of the gained healthy life behaviors during the whole school period.
As a result;
It is important to create healthy and regular eating habits not only for the child but also for all family members in preventing obesity so parents should be good role models for children in terms of nutrition and physical activity. For school-age children and youth; good school environment, good nutrition literacy and physical activity guidelines should be established. Prevention of obesity is important in protecting and improving public health.
 
Assist.Prof.Dr. NURTEN ELKİN