Diet & Nutrition Counselling for Obesity
India has the 2nd highest number of obese children in the world, after China. Overweight and obese children are increasing in number, especially due to the increased energy intake and inadequate physical activity of children. Kids require lots of energy and nutrients to develop physically and mentally, but empty calories found in junk food and fatty food will do more harm than good.
Childhood obesity can lead to major health problems in adulthood like Type 2 Diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart problems or have co-existing nutritional deficiencies like anemia and rickets.
A overweight or obese child may be teased or may feel bad about his or her body weight, or feel isolated and alone. These feelings may interfere with a child’s ability to learn, make friends, and interact with others.
Overweight and obesity in children can be managed with energy calculated balanced diet and adequate physical activity. Nutritional counselling and modifying eating pattern of the child and entire family is crucial achieving good results. It is essential to make timely intervention to manage the child’s weight as an overweight child is likely to be an overweight adult.
Under Nourished Children
The biggest concern of most parents is that their child is not gaining weight despite all efforts. Many times, the child eats well but still is underweight. It is important to figure out the solution, as poor weight gain is the precursor of poor growth and poor immunity from infections. Junk food, restricted food types, poor nutritional value of the food lead to nutritional deficiencies which further causes poor appetite and starts a vicious cycle of under-nutrition.
The children usually become underweight because they eat small portions, the food is healthy but not calorie dense and the growing children require more calories. Also, there are certain circumstances where adequate nutrition can be missed - If the child goes to day care, has hectic daily schedule, is a picky eater or family has poor eating habits.
There are many signs which can suggest that the child is not gaining weight. Parents should observe if the child is not outgrowing his/her clothes over several months, the child is very skinny and small compared to children his age. It is advisable to seek medical attention and consider nutritional counseling to improve the nutritional intake of the child.