Obesity

 Print This Post

(ii)     Obese Parents – The adolescents are more likely to become overweight if their parents are obese. There is a 40% risk of being an obese child if one parent is obese and 80% if both are obese. However, the risk of being an obese child is only about 10% if both parents are healthy and slim.

(iii)    Parents and Child Bonding – Interestingly, the stronger the social bonds are between parents and child, the more likely the child will be overweight. The closer children are to their obese parents, the more likely they are to internalise the values and norms that their parents promote or model. Even non-obese parents not wanting to criticise their children’s faulty eating habits when they are young can also cause weight problems later in life.

(iv)    Compulsive Overeating – Compulsive overeating usually starts in early childhood when eating patterns are formed. It is characterised by uncontrollable eating and consequent weight gain. Most people who become compulsive eaters, never learnt the proper way to deal with stressful situations and used food as a means to cope with such conditions. They usually feel out of control and are aware that their eating patterns are abnormal.

 (v)     Sedentary Lifestyle of Families – A study by Arizona State University researchers found that when children grow up in families with bad eating habits and sedentary lifestyles dominated by tele-watching, video games and internet browsing, they are 33.3% more likely to become overweight or obese as young adults. This is also confirmed by studies in India.

(vi)    Dieting by Adolescents – The scientists from Minnesota University found that dieting adolescents are three times as likely to become overweight as their non-dieting peers. They are also twice as likely to develop eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia. People who have anorexia nervosa develop unusual eating habits to remain thin, such as avoiding food and meals, picking out a few foods only and eating them in small amounts, weighing their food, and counting the calories of everything they eat. Also they may exercise excessively. On the other hand, bulimia nervosa is eating large amounts of food secretly followed by purging. Purging methods usually involve vomiting and laxative abuse. Other forms of purging can involve exercise, fasting, use of diuretics, diet pills and enemas.