Rising childhood obesity rates are becoming a growing issue affecting young people. Endocrinologists and extensive medical research have linked significant connections between obesity and an increase in diabetes diagnoses, making obesity a public health concern for children and adolescents alike.
According to the National Library of Medicine, 17% of U.S. children are presenting with obesity, which has a strong link to comorbidities in children including psychological distress and cardiovascular disorders.
In January of 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics released its first comprehensive “Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity,” examining obesity treatment in children while further highlighting the value of observing family and community dynamics to best correct challenges of unhealthy weight increases in children.
“Research tells us that we need to take a close look at families – where they live, their access to nutritious food, health care, and opportunities for physical activity,” stated Dr. Sarah E. Hampl, chair of the Clinical Practice Guideline Subcommittee on Obesity and a lead author of the guideline. “Our kids need the medical support, understanding, and resources we can provide within a treatment plan that involves the whole family.”
Youth residing in some of the most underserved communities of Washington, D.C. are highly susceptible to unhealthy outcomes in the long run. These youth often live in areas scarce of full-service grocers offering healthy food, and an overwhelming number of fast food options, sugary snacks. Combining a lack of physical activity in these modern times is a recipe for youth facing obesity and other health challenges.
Healthy examples of lifestyle and diet lead the blueprint for children early on. Research suggests the chances of a heavier child remaining overweight or obese is in the upward 95th percentile. The high chances of facing a lifelong struggle with obesity makes for an incredibly critical time to ensure healthy habits are established during a child’s pubescent years.
An Unhealthy Lifestyle Leads to Dangerous Health Outcomes
Dr. Gail Nunlee-Bland, a pediatric endocrinologist who is the director of the Diabetes Center at Howard University (HU) Hospital, and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at HU’s College of Medicine, emphasized the importance of addressing factors influencing childhood obesity early on. She highlighted the increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, and offered suggestions for parents to avoid a potentially harmful path.
Nunlee-Bland explained the challenges parents who reside in violence-ridden communities face– they fear letting their children enjoy the outdoors. However, she encourages parents to take part in leading examples of healthy lifestyles, using alternative methods like: indoor exercise routines, family walks during warmer seasons, and shopping together for healthy food options with their children.
“That is a time when intensifying a healthy diet, and intensifying their exercise is important. If they do nothing, in about five years they could go on to develop Type 2 diabetes,” Nunlee-Bland told The Informer. “I always recommend that this is a time that you really can make a difference and keep them from regressing to that.”
She also emphasized the importance of paying close attention to glaring symptoms of pre-diabetes, or diabetic conditions in their kids outside of the doctors office, namely acanthosis nigricans, a darkening around the child’s neck, which many parents mistake for dirt that can be washed off of the skin.
Elevated blood pressure, which in severe cases can present itself through headaches, dizziness, nausea, or blurry vision, high cholesterol, or raised triglyceride levels are also alarming indications that a child may be on their way to developing atherosclerosis or cardiac disease. It is imperative to seek pediatric care if any of these circumstances appear.
The long-term health implications can turn severe when a child’s increasing weight gain and poor dietary habits are not corrected early on. Years of obesity or increased weight gain into adulthood often wreak havoc on the body, manifesting in various conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome, where women will see increased hair growth on their bodies and face, irregular periods, gallbladder disease, or even cirrhosis of the liver or liver failure.
In some of the worst cases Nunlee-Bland has witnessed of her longtime pediatric patients, many children who develop Type 2 diabetes at a young age die by the time they are in their late 20s or early 30s. These fatal cases are often preventable when parents take the proper measures to steer their children’s lifestyle and dietary habits in the right direction for success.
Statistics show that the obesity rates have worsened over time, particularly for Black women. In the early 70s, merely 5% of the population was obese, in comparison to today where the country is averaging a 40 to 50% rate of obesity in adults.
Nunlee-Bland said that the increase in fast food serving sizes in conjunction with a lack of physical activity are major contributing factors to the massive shift in weight change across the country.
“I just remember when I was a child, even though we had sodas, they were small. Maybe 8 ounces, and you often only had them for special occasions. But now, they are at 20 ounces, about two and a half times the amount that you should be drinking,” said Nunlee-Bland.
“We have to look at what has changed in those 50 years. We have video games, computers, sedentary lifestyles, fast food, and less cooking at home,” she said. “Multiple things have happened that are contributing to a health burden.”
