By Dr. Joseph Mercola | mercola.com
Childhood obesity is rising exponentially worldwide as the relentless marketing of junk foods reaches around the globe and governments do too little to protect their children’s health, according to The Guardian.
The number of obese children globally is predicted to reach 250 million by 2030, up from 150 million now. There will be nearly 62 million obese children aged 5 to 19 in China by 2030, 27 million in India and 17 million in the U.S., the report said.
Over 17% of American children between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese, which sets them up for a lifetime of serious health problems. Obese children as young as 8 now display signs of heart disease.
Obesity, diabetes and related diseases are all associated with processed food and fast food diet. To minimize health risks and normalize your child’s weight, serve REAL foods cooked from scratch.
Eight obesity-related diseases account for 75% of all health care costs in America. This includes Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and dementia. About one-third of all cancers are also directly related to obesity.
In the past 20 years, Type 2 diabetes — once an elderly adult disease — has increased dramatically among children, from less than 5% of all newly diagnosed cases to more than 20%.
The long-held conventional view that obesity is either the result of “bad genetics” or poor lifestyle choices, combined with a certain amount of laziness or lack of willpower, has been debunked.
Obesity rates 50 to 60 years ago were only one-third of what they are today — a huge clue that genetics are not to blame. And, a number of other affluent nations do not have the same obesity problems as the U.S. The obesity rate among Japanese and Swedish women is 3% and 10%, respectively, compared to 37% in the U.S. And when people from such countries move to America, they typically end up gaining weight, so something in the American diet is different from other nations.
Consider the disparities between the rich and the poor. Poorer Americans have higher rates of obesity, whereas poor people in developing nations tend to be underweight from lack of food.
The typical American diet is very high in nonfiber carb processed foods with sugar-laden processed foods as a primary culprit. Americans also rarely ever fast, which compounds the problem.
One reason childhood obesity in America is becoming more prevalent is that many parents believe their kids are average in size when they are actually obese. Parents may also have difficulty speaking to their children about their growing weight, so they put it off until problems begin to show.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that in children and adolescents 2 to 19 years old, 17% are obese — a total of 12.7 million children. Below is a list of ethnicities with the highest childhood obesity rates:
• Hispanics (21.9%)
• Non-Hispanic African-Americans (19.5%)
• Non-Hispanic Caucasians (14.7%)
• Non-Hispanic Asians (8.6%)
Obesity has been a topic of discussion for the last 30 years.
Many believe that all you have to do to normalize your weight is to eat less and exercise more. But just as the fitness craze exploded across the U.S., so did American waistlines. Between 1980 and 2000, memberships to fitness clubs doubled, and so did the national obesity rate.
The conventional low-fat, high-carb recommendation created the obesity epidemic. If you or your child struggle with excess weight, stop counting calories, eat real food, increase your dietary fat intake and reduce your net carbs.
