Obesity kills kids is not an over dramtization of the truth!
The obesity epidemic is here. In the past 20 years the number of obese children, adolescents, and teens has virtually TRIPLED. This epidemic has brought a marked increase in diabetes and other health conditions that were typically reserved for overweight adults.
Most parents are unaware of the health-damaging effects that are currently occurring in their overweight kids. The childhood obesity epidemic has brought forth a variety of weight-related diseases that begin pathological damage long before the child enters adulthood. These diseases go unrecognized, as most are silent and asymptomatic. Children, adolescents, and teens suffer the same health problems that overweight adults have. The obesity epidemic has brought an epidemic in children diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). These conditions promote heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and premature death.
Heart disease is directly related to being overweight. The excess weight causes insulin resistance, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides (fat in the blood), and the generation of very small plaque-forming cholesterol. All of these conditions damage the blood vessels and organs silently and without symptoms.
Excess weight even causes many forms
of cancer.
In addition to the weight-related physical diseases, there are important psychological costs as well. Frequently, the overweight child is the subject of ridicule, teasing, and social discrimination. They become isolated from their peers and develop low self-esteem, which leads to many psychological problems including depression. Overweight and obese children have a tendency to poorer school performance due to psychological stress, low self-esteem, or sleep apnea related attention deficits.