Dangers and consequences of childhood overweight and obesity

In the world, 43 million children under 5 years of age are overweight, something that can have consequences that extend into adulthood.

Argentina is no exception: according to the second National Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNyS), within this population, 3 out of 10 are overweight. Of them, 10.4 percent are in the range of obesity.

As indicated by a research team from the National University of La Matanza (UNLaM) in Argentina, which has worked on the problem of obesity, it is a chronic disease that, if it occurs since childhood, can have serious consequences in adult life.

“Childhood obesity has an impact on infant development and long-term damage. It is associated with a greater probability of obesity, premature death and disability in adulthood and, in addition, increases the risk of suffering from arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes and liver disease, as well as other problems such as, for example, hypoventilation syndromes and apnea obstructive sleep”, lists Dr. Graciela Brito, coordinator of the Bachelor of Nutrition at UNLaM.

Beyond the specific impacts on health, working on the problem of obesity from a multi-causal approach is fundamental because social, economic, cultural, genetic, ethnic and environmental factors intervene in it.

In this sense, Brito points out that, at a cultural level, what is known as the “obesogenic environment” was configured. “It is about the set of external factors that surround us and that can lead to overweight or obesity. An obesogenic environment can be one that stimulates practices such as sedentary lifestyle or other activities that favor its development. Different processes of reconfiguration of the social fabric, throughout the history of evolution, contributed to the formation of this concept in which the family, community and government spheres influence.

Overweight and obesity in childhood harm children’s health and can leave consequences in adulthood. (Illustration: Amazings/NCYT)

Myths and stereotypes around obesity

An important cultural point, the research team points out, is the need to stop thinking of obesity as a problem exclusively for sectors with many economic resources.

“While overweight and obesity were once considered a problem in high-income countries, the situation has now changed. In developing countries, with emerging economies, the percentage increase in overweight and obesity in boys and girls has been 30 percent above that of developed countries,” says Gabriela Figueroa, a member of the team led by Brito in the Department of Health Sciences of the UNLaM

Another of the myths that surround this health problem is that an obese child cannot be malnourished. Figueroa maintains that, in Argentina, different types of nutritional problems coexist. “Malnutrition, understood as insufficient or excessive intake of macronutrients in the form of calories and micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, can present itself in various ways. One of them is presented in what is known as the ‘third world paradigm’, where malnutrition is not manifested by extreme thinness but, on the contrary, can appear with overweight and obesity”, he points out.

In fact, according to the ENNyA, overweight and obesity turned out to be the most frequent forms of malnutrition and their increase is confirmed in accordance with other surveys, such as the Third World Survey of School Health. On the contrary, in the case of malnutrition due to deficit, the data indicate that the prevalence of malnutrition, low weight and thinness in all the groups surveyed was low from a population perspective.

For Brito, the possible responses to this scenario are clear. “The right to health and healthy eating are inextricably linked when they are constituted as basic rights. Without them, you cannot achieve a decent standard of living”, he assures.

This approach, adds the researcher, includes the perspective of adequate and nutritious food and expands the historical conception, which considered the right to food as a guarantee of protection against hunger. “We need to contemplate a healthy diet that provides all the essential nutrients and not just fights the hunger of the moment”, concludes the researcher. (Source: Magalí de Diego (CTyS-UNLaM Agency))