How to avoid childhood obesity in your family: experts say to make sure your kids eat healthy food, exercise and get enough sleep – and lead by example

An obese child can develop the same chronic issues as obese adults: blood pressure abnormalities, sleep apnoea, diabetes, orthopaedic problems, and even dementia

Talk to your kids about being healthy, not about their weight, a psychologist says. Be a role model – lead them in an active lifestyle and eat nutritious meals

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Obesity in children is a major public health challenge and it can result in a life plagued by chronic illness. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:15pm, 6 Jul 2022

A plump baby may be cooed over for having rubber-band wrists and chipmunk cheeks, but if that chubbiness persists when a child is on the move and rolls over into teen and adult life, it can bring a host of physiological and psychological problems.

An overweight child may suffer a crippling lack of self-confidence, says Naina Suri, a psychologist at Spot Children’s Interdisciplinary Therapy Centre in Hong Kong. “They are likely to associate their bodies with shame and may find it difficult to fit in.”

One study, she says, suggested obese children as young as two years old face discrimination.

Social withdrawal often compounds the weight problem, as the child may resort to emotional eating – making them more prone to eating disorders, she says. A number of researchers have shown that symptoms associated with eating disorders – anorexia and bulimia nervosa – are often found in obese children and young adults.

Naina Suri is a psychologist at Spot Children’s Interdisciplinary Therapy Centre in Hong Kong.

In seclusion, they may seek solace in their screens, which means less physical activity and accelerated weight gain. This cycle spirals outwards as a habit and can continue long after the school years end, as it can become a self-perpetuating problem.

The World Health Organization says that obesity in children is a major public health challenge. It can result in a life plagued by chronic illness: heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and stroke, one problem feeding another and another.

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