(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Childhood obesity a public health challenge according to study
Dubai: A recent study conducted in the UAE demonstrated that the incidence of overweight/obese children (combined) is approximately 20 per cent among the age group 6 to 10 years old and about 40 per cent among 11 to 19 years old in the UAE.
Suffering from obesity or excess weight as a child could bring about chronic conditions as adults such as diabetes and hypertension.
Parents’ recognition of their children’s obesity issues is important as they play an instrumental role in the management and prevention of this condition.
Childhood obesity is increasingly becoming a public health challenge in the UAE that must be addressed with diligence. According to Dr Abdishakur Abdulle Associate Director Public Health Research Centre New York University Abu Dhabi “Parental involvement is a key factor in the deterrence and management of childhood obesity thus parental recognition of weight problems is vital. Yet the majority of parents of overweight/obese children usually underestimate their children’s weight condition. This poses a clear obstacle to prevention thus obesity prevention programmes should take into account the important role of parents in developing national prevention strategies for childhood obesity.”
Dr Abdulle will be speaking about childhood obesity at the Paediatrics Conference at Arab Health Congress the region’s largest healthcare exhibition and congress from January 26 to 29 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibitions Centre.
The findings of the study indicate that higher BMI percentile among children is directly associated with higher blood pressure levels. And that although the authors including Dr Abdulle could not establish a causal effect these results lend weight to the hypothesis that the obesity epidemic is likely to become a harbinger for chronic diseases in the future.
“Clearly the prevalence of childhood obesity is not only high across all ages of children and adolescents in the UAE but is also associated with higher blood pressure.
Obstacles to prevention include parental misconceptions. Together such findings warrant the development of a better prevention strategy to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity” commented Dr Abdulle.
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