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Childhood obesity – a global tsunami or time bomb
The world has never been this heavy and from all indications we will grow heavier. Obesity cuts across all continents and all age groups. Surely childhood obesity cannot offer us any positive sides.
In a society where being overweight or obese is considered a mark of affluence and parents pride themselves in having babies who look like teddy-bears, it is not surprising that we are still silent at a time when the western world is paying the price for childhood obesity.
We constantly remind our children to wear seatbelts and also wash their hands with soap and water before eating but we hardly advise our little jewels that eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise is the trump card to good health.
It is important to drum it home that obesity is a health risk that they need to avoid to ensure that they grow into healthy adults. Good health definitely makes life more enjoyable.
Remember an obese child is often prone to diseases that only a few years ago were the preserve of the elderly. Imagine developing high blood pressure, type II diabetes and high cholesterol before your 20th birthday.
This increases your risk of developing complications such as heart attacks, strokes, amputations and a whole lot in your forties when you are at the peak of your career. What a loss! There is still hope though. We can stop this canker if we start now.
What is the Cause of this trend?
This is partly due to the dramatic shift in children’s lifestyle. Children have become more sedentary, spending hours on end watching television, playing video games and surfing the internet. Contrast that with a decade or two ago when playing gutter-to-gutter with socks-ball was worth missing a meal or two.
The food they eat has not improved either and unhealthy snacks are readily available at home and in school. Few families are sitting together to enjoy a nutritious dinner. Children thrive on fast foods which is high in calories, sugar and bad fats and most of them do not have a regular eating schedule.
All these are a sure way to arrive in the land of obesity. It is unfortunate that many people consider these foods the in-thing and will always choose fried rice with questionable chicken over apem (plantain) and abom with fish.
Prevention is the best cure
As parents we are the best role models for our children so let us set the right examples. The best way to avoid a weight problem with your children is to start early with a healthy lifestyle.
Encourage good eating habits and exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle and adopt these habits yourself.
Tips to prevent childhood obesity
- Work together as a family
- Regular family meals improve children’s nutrition and encourages healthy eating habits and leads to a reduction in the risk of childhood obesity. I am assuming that as parents we will prepare healthy meals.
- Eating breakfast is a MUST
- Do not single out any family member, adopt a healthy lifestyle for all to follow
- Respect your child’s appetite; children do not have to eat everything on their plate.
- Limit high calorie foods such as sweet tasting biscuits and discourage snacks except when they are fruits.
- Avoid soft drinks such as coke, fanta etc
- Limit fast foods, pre-prepared foods and foods with added sugar.
- Encourage high intake of fibre, fruits and vegetables.
- Replace whole milk with low fat versions from age two.
- Identify risks and try to set realistic goals
- If children spend long hours watching television or playing on the computer, set a stricter limit and monitor it. Remove televisions from bedrooms and encourage children to spend time outdoors.
- Schools should encourage physical education instead of spending hours feeding information to children. Remember a sound mind in a sound body. As parents and guardians it is our duty to champion this during PTA meetings.
- Create a family exercise plan
- Exercise together as a family, it could even be dancing to music in the living room or taking a walk together outdoors.
- Reward good behaviour
- Give rewards for reaching goals but do not use food as a reward or bribe
- Seek help if needed
- Depending on the cause of the weight problem, some children may need behavioural therapy or other professional help to achieve a healthy weight. Seek help when you are not making any positive headway.
An obese child is no laughing matter, neither is it a reflection of the affluence of his or her parents. It is a time bomb waiting to explode. A real health hazard covered with fat. Take aggressive steps now to avoid it or reverse it.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd (HE&W Group)
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – 1. “Theme for World Heart Day 2024 – Motivate Individuals to Look After Their HEART HEALTH.”
References
- If I had only a minute with the president – Dr Kojo Cobba Essel
- Health Tips from giantfoodstores.com
- Dr David Ludwig- Child Obesity Expert
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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