Did you know that according to the American Heart
Association – 5 percent of U.S.A. children and teens are classified as “severely obese”?
Did you know that there are a growing number of seniors that
are not getting enough to eat in the U.S.A.?
What do you think is causing this? I have been
pondering this question all week and wondering what I can do about it. Here are
some facts to consider:
“Severe obesity in young people has grave health
consequences. It’s a much more serious childhood disease than obesity.” ~ Aaron
Kelly Ph.D., University of Minnesota Medical School.
In America, more than 10% of our senior citizens are going
hungry! The incidence of senior starvation is on the rise. Seniors (over 55 –
yes 55 is a senior J
) that are at risk are those who may make comments like:
“I don’t feel like
cooking."
"It hurts my teeth to eat."
"It is boring eating alone – why bother."
"Food
does not even sound good any more."
"It is so expensive to buy food these days."
"My tummy hurts when I eat." - If their tummy hurts when they eat it can be a sign
of constipation which seniors are at an increased risk for because of lack of
or restricted activity, not eating enough fiber and not drinking enough water because
of a fear of being unable to reach the bathroom in time.
I was excited when I saw that childhood obesity rates were
starting to level off, but saddened to learn that severe obesity has increased.
As a diabetic this concerns me very much, severely obese children have higher rates of
type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular issues at younger ages, including (but not
limited to) high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis at
a much younger age.
Emotional trauma takes it's toll on our seniors and our overweight
youth. Loss of ability to take care of themselves or increased emotional trauma
from teasing and bullying that they are more susceptible to.
I saw a success story video today that really showed how this can affect our youth into adulthood.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-881601 This is Annette Millers story. My hat is off to her. I have been overweight long enough to know what a challenge it is to lose that much weight. You go Annette!
For our youth it is hard enough
growing up without having the burden of being severely over weight and having
diabetes. Add to the situation that they have proved that fitter children /
teens performed better on memory tests than their nonfat counterparts, and it
seems even more important to treat severely obesity as aggressively as you
would any life threatening disease! Treatment options for severely obese
children are limited as most standard weight loss approaches seem to be
insufficient for them.
What defines severely obese? Children over 2 years old that
have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 20% higher than the 95th
percentile (weighing more than 95%) for their gender and age; or who have a BMI
score of 35 or higher. It is urged that parents evaluate the effectiveness of
lifestyle modification interventions which include adherence to dietary and
physical activity plans. It is important to recognize severe obesity as a
chronic disease requiring ongoing care and management.
So what can we as individuals do?
Awareness to both problems
is essential.
Encourage activities that they enjoy.
Invite them to eat healthy
meals.
Encourage them to make the right decisions.
Take time to check in with them and befriend them in a way that lets them know that you care and that you
are there for them in challenging times.
