Next week experts from around the world will analyze the growing and worrisome problem of childhood obesity. It will be the University of Zaragoza who will host this necessary congress that will address one of the most important problems we have in our environment today.
This obesity problem, If it continues to increase and generalize, it can generate important problems in our environment: not only will our children have less health because of those extra kilos, but the health system and the entire economy of a country can be affected in the long run.
It may seem exaggerated to speak in these terms, and indeed it may even be ... at the present time. But the really worrying thing is that in a few years this exaggeration will cease to be, at the rate we are going: the proportion of obese children does not stop increasing, not only in Spain, but in general in all developed countries.
The most immediate problem of our children being obese is that this has a direct impact on your health. An overweight or obese child (they are different things) already has a risk factor that the child who keeps his weight does not possess.
But how can this influence the health and economy of an entire country? In this first post on obesity we explain the reasons that justify taking this problem very seriously.
Impact of health on the economy
Our health system is based on the "transfer" of resources of young people, healthy and who quotes and pays taxes to those most in need of health care, generally older and non-contributors. In addition, the progression is not linear but geometric, that is, a patient consumes much more than what a healthy person contributes, so that many healthy people are needed to finance the health costs of the sick.
It is a more or less fair system in which it is assumed that what young and working people contribute today will be returned to them tomorrow, when they need to use these health resources and are no longer willing to work by age or health reasons. Therefore it is very important to maintain a healthy and working population.
If we allow our children to be obese today, they will be tomorrow too. And that is a risk factor of various pathologies, the cardiovascular ones being the best known and the most serious precisely.
It is also important to remember that many children already have risk factors, such as high blood pressure levels or, much more frequently, familial hypercholesterolemias, which were previously undetected and yet now known. One of the most important is a sedentary lifestyle, another epidemic that plagues our children.
An obese child will probably be an obese adult. And in case you associate other risk factors such as those mentioned above, you may start to have problems from 30-40 years, which would result in the consumption of health resources and, what is just as important, having sick leave.
In the worst case, if you suffer a severe cardiovascular accident between the ages of 50 and 60, you may then stop paying contributions (due to disability or early retirement) and also consume a large number of health resources, at an age of which in theory would have to continue contributing resources towards those who need them.
How to reverse this trend
It is not easy, and State or autonomous community measures will not help much if parents do not do their part: removing the bakery machines from the schools will not help at all if the child then buys the same bun at the store opposite.
Therefore, the only way to deal with this problem is, as usual, with common sense, acting reasonably from every home. And if possible, based on a series of points:
- Information: knowing what is overweight and obesity, and especially how they are generated, is essential to combat them.
- Education: children's education begins and ends at home. They will hardly acquire good habits if the parents themselves do not encourage and stimulate them, ensuring that leading a healthy life is normal and not the exception.
- Fun: leading a healthy lifestyle with our little ones can and should be fun. In case of imposing strict rules that later also are not fulfilled, the ground is being paid for failure. Having fun eating and playing exercise are the basis for fighting this plague.
- Persistence: it is difficult to be constant when our rhythm of life is so high and problems plague us, especially labor. But it is also important to remember that our patience is a fundamental investment, nothing less than in the health of our children, so it is worth insisting.
Where to learn more?
In a series of posts we will deal in depth with the issue of overweight and obesity in order to bring parents that fundamental information, so necessary to know the problem, as well as tips and measures that can be useful to lead a healthier life in House.
Of course, in cases where it is believed that one of our children may be suffering from this problem, even if it is very small, you should always consult the pediatrician, to assess each case and offer the most appropriate advice.
With a few measures and a lot of common sense we will improve the health not only of children ... but of everyone.
