83% of obese children live in developing countries
The worrying growth figures of the childhood obesity in rich or industrialized countries they are no longer exclusive to these latitudes where fast food and a taste for sugary foods and drinks prevail. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) has just advanced the data of the Commission for the End of Childhood Obesity where they warn of the rapid growth of childhood obesity in Asia and Africa.
So of the 42 million children under five who are overweight in the world, 35 million, or what is the same, 83 percent of the obese children, lives in developing countries with medium and low incomes.
The final report of the Commission to end Childhood Obesity (ECHO, in English, Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity), reflects that the study data are alarming: more than 41 million children under the age of five are obese. The situation is particularly worrisome in developing countries, since in 2014, the 48 percent of all obese and overweight children live in Asia, and the 25 percent in Africa.
Africa and Asia grow in numbers of childhood obesity
The goal of this WHO report, which has been developed over two years, is to address the alarming levels of childhood obesity and overweight worldwide. But in the light of the data, WHO is concerned not only about the figures but also about the evolution of obesity in those areas where the problem was minimal.
- Childhood obesity in Africa. Since 1990, the African continent has doubled the number of childhood obesity and overweight in children under five, according to this study. Currently, 25 percent of obese children under the age of 5 live in Africa. The diseases derived from obesity problems, typical of rich countries, are now added to the endemic infectious diseases that have not yet been eradicated in middle and low income countries. Thus, to dengue, cholera, tuberculosis and AIDS, we must add the number of cancers, cardiovascular diseases and traffic accidents, and now also the diseases derived from obesity and overweight, which were causes of death typical of rich countries.
- Childhood obesity in Asia. In the Asian continent is where the problem is more alarming, according to WHO, by the rapidity with which childhood obesity has grown. The report highlights that 48% of all obese and overweight children live in Asia.
But what is the cause? Apparently, it has been detected that the metabolism of Asian children has as a specific feature the retention of fats in the abdominal part of the body and inside it, surrounding the vital organs, just where it is most harmful to health. The reason for this characteristic of the metabolism in the oriental race is still unknown, it is under study, but the fat that is installed in the interior is dangerous because it does so before the external one, so that a child can not give signs of obesity and already have a large amount of pernicious fat in your body.
Causes that explain the increase in childhood obesity in the world
There are several factors that come together to explain the increase in the incidence of childhood obesity among the youngest. Some of them are:
1. The biological factors. Genetics has prepared humanity for times of food shortages and save fat (energy) during these periods. This characteristic increases when children have not had access to good nutrition or had the opportunity to eat healthy foods during childhood.
2. The decrease of physical activity in schools. Teaching at school implies that children spend a good number of sitting hours and this condition contributes to the sedentary lifestyle of children.
3. The deregulation of the market for fattening foods. Fast food, excess sugar in soft drinks and certain foods processed with unhealthy fats and sugars are also contributing to the increase in childhood obesity.
4. The inheritance of mothers.Not only on a biological level, but in the transmission of food customs.
Marisol Nuevo Espín
