Parents who want their children to avoid obesity through
exercise and healthy diets should practice what they preach, the Health
ministry said.
Gladys Mugambi, head of the Nutrition
Unit at the ministry says since children are under the care of parents
or guardians, they can play a critical role in influencing what they eat
and to model health lifestyles for them.
Unhealthy
lifestyles are increasingly leading to high rates of obesity in Kenyan
children, especially those from affluent backgrounds.
Ms Mugambi says rising obesity cases in children is now creating a double burden.
“On one hand, we have children from poor backgrounds who are
malnourished because of having insufficient food. Then there’s another
lot that are malnourished as they are overeating all types of unhealthy
foods that deny the body required nutrients,” she said.
Obese children are at risk of getting diabetes, heart diseases, as well as premature death, in adulthood.
As such, identifying risk factors for the prevention of childhood obesity has become a public health priority globally.
A
new study published in The BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical
Journal) shows that children of mothers who follow healthy lifestyles
have a substantially lower risk of developing obesity than those of
mothers who do not do so.
Findings of the study show
that the risk of obesity is lowest among children of mothers who aside
from eating healthy diets, also maintain a healthy weight, exercise
regularly, avoid smoking and are light to moderate drinkers.
According
to the researchers, if both mothers and their children stuck to a
healthy lifestyle, this could result in an even further reduction in the
risk of childhood obesity.
They note that even though
the role of genetics in obesity is widely recognised, a rapid increase
in obesity in recent years is more likely to be due to lifestyle
changes.
The study was conducted by a team of
researchers based in Canada and the US. They examined medical histories
and lifestyle characteristics of 24,289 children aged between nine and
14 years.
They found that the risk of obesity was 56
per cent lower in children of women with a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI)
than those of other mothers.
Compared with offspring
of women who were current smokers, children of non-smoking mothers had a
31 per cent lower risk of obesity.
The
reduction in obesity cases was also noticeable in children of mothers
who exercised for the recommended 150 minutes or more a week, as well as
those that were light to moderate drinkers (consuming one or two small
glasses of wine or a pint of standard strength beer daily).
Overall,
children of mothers who followed all five low risk lifestyle factors (a
high quality diet, normal BMI, regular physical activities, light to
moderate intake of alcohol and non-smoking) had a 75 per cent lower risk
of developing obesity. The researchers stated that these findings
highlight the potential benefits of implementing parent-based
interventions to curb the risk of childhood obesity.
"Prospective research examining the role of fathers in the development of obesity in offspring is needed.”
To
curb obesity, Mugambi noted that children should be given a balanced
diet comprising healthy carbohydrates (like rice and ugali), proteins
(such as chicken, fish or beef) and a lot of fruits and vegetables.
“Parents basically need to limit or keep off fatty meals, processed
foods and soft drinks like soda and artificial juices, even if they may
seem tastier and more appealing to children.”
“Also, prevent children from just sitting idle or watching television the whole day. Encourage them to exercise.”
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