Dieticians raise alarm over rising cases of overweight children

Childhood obesity is becoming a major health concern for many parents, forcing them to turn to dieticians. Doctors warn that overweight children are unlikely to reach their full potential in adulthood if they keep piling on the weight.

Dorcas Gichuhi, a dietician at the Nairobi Hospital, says she is seeing more children below the age of 18 years battling with weight problems compared to previous years.

“It is no longer adults who are struggling with losing weight; more and more children are being diagnosed with diseases that are attributed to being overweight,” she says.

These rising cases of obesity have been linked to high intake of carbohydrates and processed foods that contain a lot of fat and sugar while leading sedentary lifestyles.

Ms Gichuhi says the children are also falling into a culture of “eating on the go.”

“Due to the busy work schedules parents eat snacks on the go. Children pick this habit as they grow,” she said.

She notes that parents no longer monitor what the children eat as their care is entrusted to nannies and house helps.

“Even when parents find time to call home during the day, they are concerned if the child has eaten and not what he has eaten,” the dietician says.

A majority of these children also live sedentary lifestyles, spending much of their time indoors with little or no physical activity. With video games, TV and social media networks, few children take time to play outside where they are likely to expend a lot of energy.

Parents no longer plan the children’s meals and in most cases they stock food that their children enjoy, which are not necessarily healthy.

“We have also raised our children on the culture of treat days where they can feed on as much of the unhealthy meals while on a family outing. Even when they excel most of their rewards are food related – a cake, ice cream or chips, which are not healthy,” she says.

Some schools also give children biscuits, cakes and chips for tea and lunch breaks.

As children become teenagers they begin to develop more erratic eating habits, skipping meals as they spend more time out of the house with their friends and eating late.

“Mostly we see cases of being overweight in preteens and teenagers, basically children aged between 13 and 18 years,” Ms Gichuhi says, adding that obesity cases among college students is low.

Unlike adults, overweight children struggle more with low self esteem, especially if they are ridiculed by their peers. Such children will look for excuses, including pretending to be sick, to avoid going to school or other places where they will be the subject of ridicule.

“When they are not getting the right support from parents, children begin developing negative attitudes towards food since it is the root cause of their problems. This leads to development of food disorders like anorexia and bulimia,” she says.

Ms Gichuhi adds that parents are sometimes in denial that their children are overweight, hoping that they will lose the excess fat as they grow.

To manage cases of obesity parents and their children are advised to undergo counselling and ensure they follow healthy meal plans.

“They have to eat healthy food not just at home, including the snacks they carry to school. If the school does not provide healthy options, a parent can opt to have the children carry their own lunch from home,” she says.

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