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10 percent of kids worldwide are obese
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-13 11:41 Ten percent of children, or
at least 155 million youngsters worldwide, are overweight or obese, a leading
health expert said on Wednesday, citing new evidence of the extent of the
problem.
"We need urgent action. The time for action is now," said Professor Ricardo
Uauy, chair of public health nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine.
Uauy, an editor of a new report on childhood obesity, called for a global
strategy to stem the rising number of obese children everywhere.
"We thought obesity was a problem for adults -- it is a global problem in
children and it is going to get worse before it gets better."
"We are facing an epidemic in children," he told Reuters. "We thought obesity
was a problem for adults -- it is a global problem in children and it is going
to get worse before it gets better."
Although it is most severe in the United States, where the prevalence of
obese children aged five to 17 is about 10 percent and more than 30 percent are
overweight, numbers are rising in Europe, the Middle East and in the
Asia/Pacific region, according to the report by the London-based International
Obesity Task Force.
Ten to 20 percent of children in northern Europe show a prevalence towards
being overweight, while further south in Europe the numbers increase to 20-35
percent.
What was once a health problem for the industrialized world with its high
calorie foods, labor-saving devices and dwindling levels of physical activity
has now spread to developing countries.
In South Africa, about 25 percent of girls from 13-19 are overweight or obese
-- a number approaching U.S. levels, according to the report.
"These figures are extremely high, especially figures emerging from
developing countries where we thought malnutrition was a problem," Uauy added
"Now we are seeing that stunted children become obese as soon as they start
getting the regular diet and physical inactivity of other countries."
Key social trends identified
In the report, Uauy and his colleagues identified social trends which have
contributed to the problem and called for the World Health Organization to help
developing countries organize strategies to prevent childhood obesity.
It would include efforts to improve maternal nutrition and to promote breast
feeding, to encourage schools to teach children how to eat better, to provide
clear nutrition information to consumers and safe play facilities in local
neighborhoods.
Changes in diet, a decrease in physical activity and too much time spent in
front of computer or television screens have been blamed for the growing number
of overweight children.
Obesity increases a child's risk of suffering type 2 diabetes and, later in
life, of developing heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer.
"A global strategy means keeping children active at school and at play and
making sure that foods that are energy-dense be limited. We cannot have
high-energy food so that a child in 15 minutes will eat 80 percent of his
calories for the day," Uauy added.
"In some countries, over the past decade, the figure has tripled. I think it
is never too late but it is time we start getting serious about doing something
about it."
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