I went a couple of rounds with my younger stepdaughter about genetics and obesity when I cautioned her against giving her baby soda in a bottle and sweet treats. "You don't want him to become predisposed to sweets and get fat," I warned. She weighs as much as I do, just looked at me, and said, "Well, if it's genetics we can't help it."
I don't agree with that and said so ... but on the other hand, what kind of example have I set?
Okay, anyway, after my first husband died, the 3 kids and I must have gained about 400 lbs -- almost the whole man at the time he passed. I "woke up" to the severity of the issue in time to put the skids on the youngest becoming severely or morbidly obese. She also grew a couple of inches in height and so I would say she is, at most, about 25 lbs overweight. My older two kids are in the same morbid boat as me and it upsets me to no end.
As it happens, doctors are now looking into ways to predict if and how kids will develop serious health problems later when they start out as obese kids.
doctors are on the lookout these days for a group of risk factors known together as metabolic syndrome.
They include excess weight, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low levels of HDL or so-called good cholesterol, glucose intolerance, and elevated insulin levels.
They want to see if simply measuring a kid's waist can be a predictor of future problems. It would be nice if it was that simple, eh?
The researchers analyzed data from 84 kids aged six to 13, of whom 68 were overweight or obese. They found children with abdominal obesity determined by a waist size above the ninetieth percentile of the study group had increased metabolic syndrome risk factors such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance and high cholesterol. The researchers say abdominal obesity may be an especially important risk factor for insulin resistance syndrome in children.
It would be very important to have that information. I know my kids need diet and exercise. If these measurements had been taken when my kids were younger maybe I would have been more aware and actively involved in their eating habits. I would like to think I would have been.
There was yet another reference to smoking and belly fat:
The study, in the journal Circulation, found that six percent of teens aged 12 to 19 had metabolic syndrome, and that the numbers increased with exposure to tobacco smoke. In kids who were overweight, the numbers increased even more. Although it's not understood how tobacco smoke might contribute to metabolic syndrome, obviously we cannot forget the important effort to prevent kids from smoking and to protect them from second hand smoke.
The whole article is here.
4 comments:
Both of my sons were skinny up until they got out of highschool. Then they both started having weight problems ... now that they are in their 30's the weight problem is a daily concern to them. They are no longer skinny.
I was thinnish until I finished going through puberty at about 16. It was then that I started gaining weight and I've been heavy ever since.
Being thin as a child is no guarantee of being thin as an adult. Sometimes our bodies don't kick into high gear until they are done becoming adult bodies.
On the other hand my children as well as my husband and myself were all exposed to cigaretted smoke during our growing up years and we are all overweight.
Interesting things to think about.
Very interesting, I was exposed to smoke and also gained after puberty.
I have such a hard time with this. Since I'm obese, I worry that my daughter is going to get like me. I'm constantly on her about her snacking and such. However, she's a teeny bird and long and thin. I know that's how I was at her age. It was my habits that lead to my being this big. Not genetics. I fear that in trying to keep her from getting like this, I may be putting too much emphasis on food, weight, body and I may give her an eating disorder from that! Its such a fine line. I have no idea what I'm doing or how to do it.
Tell your daughter that some of it is genetics, but why does she have to be complacent about it? My family is the same way and I am tired of giving up and letting genetics have its way with me.
Also, for children, soda can keep calcium from being utilized and small children should not have it, as you know. It not only adds weight and gets them used to sugar, but can keep their bones from growing properly.
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