The Beginnings of Obesity - A Child’s Health Rests in Parents Hands

Globally, children suffer from two extreme nutritional burdens. i.e. in developing countries such as India, four out of ten children under age five are undernourished whereas in developed nations such as the USA, 12.5 percent preschool children are obese.

Malnourished children's needs can be directly addressed through better nutrition, however, childhood obesity is a little more complex and one must consider the following issues to understand what are the reasons for childhood obesity levels rising among school children.

Factors affecting birth weight of baby:
Research has regularly shown that maternal factors such as -
•    Height of mother
•    Pre-pregnancy weight
•    Folic acid status
All can affect the birth weight of the baby.

Feeding practices also affect weight of the newborn -
Incorrect infant feeding practices such no exclusive breastfeeding, no colostrums feeding, etc, can influence the nutriture of the baby and can lead to undernourishment suggesting maternal factors and care during initial years determine the nutritional status of children as it grows.
It has always been inviolable to consider preschool child as underweight or obese but the evidence nowadays puts forward that obesity trajectory is set earlier in life i.e during infancy days, toddler years or sometimes in the womb of the mother.

Research Evidence - Risk Factors for Childhood Obesity
•    Maternal smoking during pregnancy
•    Appropriate gestational weight gain
•    No exclusive breastfeeding
•    Shorter sleep duration in children
(These are the factors that increase the risk of childhood obesity shown in a study by Gillman et al at Harvard Medical School)

Siblings born after the mother developed type 2 diabetes - had a higher body mass index throughout childhood  - and were almost four times as likely to develop diabetes as siblings born before the diagnosis suggesting that intrauterine exposure to diabetes poses a high risk for the development of diabetes and obesity in offspring in excess of risk attributable to genetic factors alone. The intrauterine environment of a woman with diabetes over nourishes the fetus and resets the offspring's satiety set point, making them predisposed to eating more (Dablea et al).

Call for Prevention
Thus preventive measures are not only required from the childhood years but much before the birth of the baby i.e. even before conception and in fact throughout our lives as early developmental factors are crucial in determining obesity-related consequences across the life course. Simple sustained lifestyle steps will not only prevent lifelong disorders but also improve quality of life and prevent complications.

What can couples planning to have children do?
Become aware that diet and lifestyle habits have long term unintended consequences and one must lead a healthy lifestyle today for a healthier tomorrow.

What can the dietitians of NutritionVista.com do for you?
They can assess your current health, diet and lifestyle habits and help you adapt and implement changes that fit your individualized medical needs and give you as normal a life as possible.

Ritu Jain
Dietitian online
NutritionVista.com

Do a simple yet complete health assessment at http://www.nutritionvista.com/NutritionTools/Default.aspx and sign up for a three months risk assessment and lifestyle improvement program.

Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11118027
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18451768
Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/23obese.html?ref=nutrition