What is childhood obesity?
Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for thousands of children suffering with obesity.
Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise.
A sufficient energy intake is important for your children while they are growing, and a varied and nutritious diet is essential for their development. However, like adults, if they take in more energy - in the form of food - than they use up, the extra energy is stored in their bodies as fat.
A few extra pounds do not suggest obesity. However they may indicate a tendency to gain weight easily and a need for changes in diet and/or exercise.
Generally, a child is not considered obese until the weight is at least 10 percent higher than what is recommended for the height and body type.
Obesity most commonly begins in childhood between the ages of 5 and 6, and during adolescence. Studies have shown that a child who is obese between the ages of 10 and 13 has an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult.
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