Rahul’s is the only child, being the apple of his parent’s eyes, he was spoilt by his parents and two sets of grandparents. Somehow in Rahul’s family, love could only be expressed with food. With everybody loving Rahul so much, he soon became too heavy for his age. His weight became an issue for him when activities like running and playing became too difficult for him. It was then that his parents decided to do something for his weight problem and consulted a dietician.

Today large numbers of kids are overweight and unless we do something about them, most of them will be plagued with multiple health problems by the time they grow up.

But what exactly is Childhood Obesity?

When your child is extremely overweight for his age then he is obese. Childhood obesity is becoming major concern because it is detrimental to child’s health if you given attention and lead to serious problems in his future life.

How can I check if my child is obese?

Your doctor will help you to tell you if your child is obese by calculating his/ her Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is different for body girls and boys. It is very important for your child to have a proper body mass index as it can give rise to various health issues.

So, let’s know what the causes of obesity in children:

Genes: Genes can play a big role in affecting weight related chemicals in the body. So if you are obese then there are chances of your child being overweight or obese in his childhood.

Poor Eating Habits: ‘You are what you eat’ is very apt in cases of obese children. If your child has poor eating habits like consuming high calories foods, loves binging on junk food, eating when not required etc. then there many chances of him becoming obese and also inviting many health issues.

No Active Life: Children are becoming very lazy; they like to be couch potatoes rather than playing outdoors. Sitting for hours in front of the TV, playing games on computer are making children addicted to sedentary lifestyle. There is no way through which they get a workout to burn the calories leading to gaining weight.

Unhealthy Family Atmosphere: Children replicate what elders do. If family follows diet which include oily, sugary and calorie dense food then there high are chances of children to be obese. If your kitchen is filled with all unhealthy food items, then you cannot blame your child. It is very obvious for your child to get addicted to them and the effect will be shown on his weight. Want to know more http://www.medimanage.com/mykidshealth/articles/dont-let-your-child-be-o...