LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Obese Kids

Childhood Obesity Statistics: It’s the Diet, Stupid…

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This is not the first time I’ve pointed out the problems in society when it comes to health.  Even First Lady Obama is promoting physical activity like it’s “the” answer to childhood obesity.

Well, guess what?  The problem isn’t the exercise.  I’m not saying it’s ok for your child to sit in front of an Xbox 360 for 4 hours a day.  They should, in general, be active.  When we were kids (maybe 10 years ago, if my math is correct…) we didn’t do “exercise.”  We rode our bikes everywhere, we ran around the neighborhood and we played sports.  But we didn’t exercise just to exercise.  It was just a part of what we did.

This should be the end discussion on the contribution of exercise to our rising childhood obesity statistics.  But it isn’t.  It becomes the pivotal discussion point on combatting childhood obesity.

Previous blog articles that have focused on how little exercise promotion changes behaviors in children can be read by clicking here.

This particular study looks at the effects of physical activity recommendations from a primary care provider in 182 overweight/obese 5- to 10-year-olds after a 3 year period.  They used accelerometry to study activity (think of a pedometer).  Here’s what they found:

  • Beginning and 3-year BMI scores did not change.
  • Beginning activity scores were 334 cpm (counts / minute) and 3-year were 284.
  • For those who had higher activity levels at 3 years, BMI scores dropped by a relatively small amount only.
  • Looking at the bright side, those with higher activity levels were more likely to not gain weight (versus moving to a higher BMI category).

Overall, the results were pretty disappointing.

Rather than being discouraged, however, this should wake us all up to the fact that diet is absolutely critical in making sure our children stay at his or her optimal weight.  No one gets hurt financially when we tell everyone to move more.  Actually, companies like Nike, Reebok and Spaulding probably come out way ahead.

But telling kids to avoid soda (diet and regular) and refined carbohydrates??  THAT is going to cost the majore confectionary companies like Nabisco and Kraft millions of dollars.

As the parent, it is up to you to set the stage for your child’s health.  No excuses like little Johnny is a poor eater.  If he is, it’s because you have let him become a poor eater.

You can view my general recommendations by clicking here.

Childhood Obesity Statistics: Damage to This in Overweight Kids

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I’ve covered many dangers associated with the rising childhood obesity statistics in this country, but damage to this vital organ caught me a little by surprise.

Ok.  You know that your child is overweight.  Or, maybe you don’t because statistically, parents have a tendency to downplay their child’s body weight issues.

Either way, you know it’s not a good thing, but they’ll outgrow it.  And then everything will be fine once he or she gets older.  Maybe not.  Maybe not in a BIG way.

This particular article took an interesting long term look at what happened to 17 year old children who were overweight (85th to 95th percentiles of BMI) or obese (≥95th percentile of BMI) getting his or her physical for the Israeli military.  This was an interesting chance to observe these kids because the physical examination to determine fitness level for entry into the military in mandatory.  Among other things, urinalysis and body weight was determined.

With the urinalysis being done, it was easy to determine if these children had any pre-existing kidney problems and were ruled out for this study.  In other words, the kidney function of these kids was in good shape with no indication of problems.

Fast forward 25 years and that is not at all the case.

Before we get into the results, let’s review what end stage renal disease (ESRD) really means.  This has typically been the realm of diabetics and chronic high blood pressure because these two cause so much damage to the kidneys (although not as much damage as it causes to the heart).  Long term use of NSAIDs and Tylenol can also destroy the kidneys.  End stage renal disease is dialysis and kidney transplant stuff.  It is not good and something we want to avoid at ALL costs.

Back to the study…

Researchers looked at two things: how much being overweight or obese at 17 years old led to the development of kidney failure up to 25 years later.  Remember–these kids had no evidence of kidney problems at 17.  Here’s what they found:

  1. Overweight adolescents  had a 300% increased risk for ESRD from all causes.
  2. Obese adolescents  increased risk was 689% for all-cause treated ESRD.
  3. Overweight kids had a 596% increased risk of being treated for kidney failure associated with diabetes.
  4. Obese kids had a whopping 1,937% increased risk for diabetic associated kidney failure.

These are shocking statistics and suggest that these kids, at age 17, are on a trajectory to a very, very poor health outcome with devastating consequences.

I do have to point out that the absolute number of these kids who are developing end stage renal disease was small, but the risk is so high that I felt the need to point this out.

If your child is overweight or headed that way, you need to recognize this threat to their long term health and begin to address it TODAY.  Later may be too late.

Childhood Obesity Statistics: Can the Xbox Kinect Help?

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I’ve addressed the chemical and dietary aspects of childhood obesity statistics. Clearly, though, exercise plays a role as well. Could technology help obese kids?

It’s a dream that every kid has. The parents condoning the use of video games. In the past, this really hasn’t been an option due to the inherently sedentary nature of video game playing.

But that has been changing.  It started with the Nintendo Wi and has moved forward with the Playstation move and the Xbox Kinect. If you’ve never played these games before, they vary from sitting on the couch swishing around the controller to all out physical activity with games like Just Dance, Kinect Sports, Fighters Uncaged or Kinect Adventures.

These games can really help you break a sweat. But just how much?

This particular study was designed to answer just that question.

Researchers looked at the calories burned while a small group of kids aged 11-15 played two different Xbox Kinect games for 15 minutes: Dance Central and Kinect Sports Boxing.  Here are the findings:

  1. Heart rate, oxygen uptake, and energy expenditure were considerably higher with these games.
  2. The Dance Central increased calorie burning by 150%.
  3. The Boxing increased calorie burning by 263%.

Not too shaby for something the kids may actually enjoy and can be done year round, regardless of hot or cold temps. AND, to top it all off, this is clearly something you can do as a family. Many of the games, like Kinect Adventures, allows you to compete against one another. We break the family into two teams for some nice competitive fun.

Incidentally, this is not the first study to look at what might happen in a household that uses these types of games. In May of 2011 a study looked at the weight of children who were given a Wii system instead of their normal, sedentary-type video games and found definate improvements in 6 months.

If you have played the Xbox Kinect before, what games did your family really seem to like and helped everyone get more exercise?