Obesity is an excess of fat in the body leading to harmful consequences for health. It occurs when the nutritional intake is greater than the energy expended by the body - one eats more than is necessary.Obesity in the young has become so prevalent that it could almost be classified as an epidemic. Today in several countries it is estimated that one child in ten is obese by the age of 10. Long-term health complications arising from this are giving rise to major concerns in many countries.

Causes of obesity

The principal cause of obesity is an increasing sedentary life style and a diet in which energy intake exceeds that of energy expenditure. Many factors can be responsible for this imbalance.

• 　 Diet: both in terms of calorie content and composition• 　 Eating out: nibbling, snacking between meals• 　 Excessive consumption of sweetened drinks and snacks (sodas, confectionery )• 　 Lack of physical activity in general and of sport in particular• 　 Genetic factors: individuals do not behave the same with respect to weight gain.• 　 Social and cultural behaviour: life style, diet.

Controlling diet and exercising are the key factors to an energy rebalance.

Consequences of obesity

There are two major consequences of infantile obesity. The first is related to psychological changes; these occur early in life and include :

• 　 low self-esteem• 　 poor results at school• 　 a change in self-image, particularly during adolescence• 　 introversion, often followed by social rejection

The second concerns the increased risk of developing diseases or pathological conditions. These can occur at an early age (as for example increased blood pressure), but generally occur in adulthood. They include :

• 　 increased arterial blood pressure (hypertension)• 　 increased levels of blood total cholesterol (hypercholesterolaemia), especially of the "bad cholesterol".• 　 High levels of blood insulin (hyperinsulinaemia)• 　 Respiratory problems during sleep (sleep apnia)• 　 Orthopaedic problems, especially of joints .

The main risk of childhood obesity is the fact that the earlier the child becomes obese, the greater the risk of developing the above complications during their lifetime.

The important thing what we can do to prevent getting childhood obesity:

• Preach on the example - teach the child to respect their body and alimentary habits;• Teach the child not to compensate nor gratify with food;• Always have handy fruit and/or vegetables so that the child may have easy access to it in case of hunger;• Teach them to consume water or fruit drinks instead of sodas; • Motivate the child towards developing a programmed physical activity;• Do not forbid intake of high calorie foods but rather teach him that excessive use of same will cause problems; • Do not doing anything else while eating, watching TV;• Do not force the child to go on a diet. It is better to talk to him about the issue in an effort to convince him.

The role of the parents

Childhood obesity needs to be tackled early in life.

Parents have a difficult but extremely important role to play in its identification and treatment. They must, above all, understand the reasons for the overweight, have a good knowledge of basic nutrition, and, together with the family doctor, help the child to learn what they should be eating.

They must be not only discreet, so as not to overly interfere with the child's preferred eating behaviour, but also firm in reminding the child that two good meals plus breakfast and one snack are all they need in one day.

Conclusion

As we have learn doing this work childhood obesity can usually be a process in which that friends and parents have a important role, and in most cases the gain of weight can be stopped by a simple talk.This is a reality that needs to be faced and not to be ignored.Not only child but adults face this problem and with a global warning this problem can be, not solved, but partially solved.