“Obesity” is a medical term with a finite and specific meaning. It means someone who is 30 pounds or more over their healthy weight. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less. But the term has taken on such a tremendous emotional charge, such a negative connotation, that people naturally resist seeing themselves under the classification of obesity, and as a result, fail to recognize themselves as being among risk.

Number Of Obese Growing Bigger

 Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity president Prof Dr Mohd Ismail Noor later said that about 90% of overweight and obese adults in the country were “very likely” to develop diabetes. “What is worrying are younger people who have diabetes and are also overweight. “You do not have to wait until you are 40 to have this disease. They are now as young as 25,” he said. He also said if one of a person’s parents was overweight or obese, the chances of his being in a similar situation was 40%. The chances increased to 80% if both parents were either overweight or obese, he added.

Genetic predisposition, he said, contributed to between 10% and 15% of those who faced the weight problems.

Causes Of Obesity

• Culture

Culture certainly has a big influence on behaviours leading to weight gain. The concepts of personal well being such health, affluence, beauty, strength and prosperity are modeled and learnt from society at large (Matsumoto 1994). It is usual that people tend to eat the foods that are eaten by their family and friends for reasons such as having a sense of acceptance and belonging, compliance to authority (i.e. parents, teachers, nutritionists, dietitians, etc.), as well as having consistencies in attitudes, beliefs and habits of diet and nutrition formed through learning within the community (Sobal 1995). One such cultural influence with regards to socio-economic environment is eating out. Eating out has become popular as it is highly convenient for today’s modern household. Eating out at restaurants and eating food prepared away from home has been found to be increasing in trend in the past 20 years (French et al. 2001).

• Personality Factors And Cognitive Style

Personality style as well as thinking patterns can help maintain behaviour that leads to obesity. Feelings of hopelessness can demotivate individuals from reducing and maintaining weight (Byrne 2002).

• Non-Food-Related Behaviour

Non-food-related behaviour can also lead to obesity. These behaviours are sedentary behaviours such as sitting or sleeping for long hours, using lifts as compared to stair-walking, driving to places that are within walking distance.

• Food-Related Behaviour

The main behavioural factors that contribute to obesity include excessive energy intake, diminished rate of physical activity or energy output, greater responsiveness to stimuli associated to food (especially energy dense food), large bites of food and rapid eating – rapid eating allows greater amount of food to beconsumed before satiety signals are recognised.

• Hunger And Appetite

Hunger is a physiological response to a need for food triggered by stimuli acting on the brain (Liebowitz 1995). In a normal eating pattern hunger begins after four to six hours after eating, when food has left the stomach and much of it has been absorbed by thebody. This pattern is highly influenced by psychophysiological factors such as smell, as well as environmental interactions (French et al. 2001).

Effects Of Obesity

Obesity has a far-ranging negative effect on physical and psychological health of a child. Former President of America, Bill Clinton (2005) acknowledged in an article in the New York Post that “Carrying around excess weight for years can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and premature death”(p.5).

The health effects associated with obesity include, but are not limited to, the following:

·         High blood pressure 

If a child develops high blood pressure their heart works harder than normal to pump blood to the extra fat tissues in the body, and the extra circulation of blood causes pressure on artery walls. Having extra weight raises the heart rate and reduces the body’s ability to transport blood to the vessels.

·         Heart disease

     Heart disease is also found in obese children and it is the hardening of arteries. This reduces blood flow to the heart and can cause heart attacks.

·         Diabetes

      The development of type 2 diabetes in so many children is extremely frightening. This disease usually begins in adulthood but has become common in obese children. Basically this form of diabetes occurs when the body resists insulin allowing blood sugar levels to increase.

·         Sleep Apnea

     Another common disease found in obese children is sleep apnea; this disease causes people to stop breathing for periods while they are sleeping.

Obesity can also have both psychological and emotional implications for children.

The psychological and emotional implications associated with obesity are:

·         Social Pressure And Stress

·         Discrimination And Torment

·         Anxiety Disorders, Depression, And Psychopathology

·         Suicidal Thoughts And Suicide Attempts

·         Eating Disorders Bulimia And Anorexia Nervosa

The depression and social isolation that obese children suffer from can influence their academic success too.

Are you an OBESE?

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