Docs say number of cases of obesity among teens and kids is on the rise.
Obesity is a sign of prosperity goes a saying. Well it is not, in fact, if doctors were to have a say in coining phrases they would tell you that obesity is a sign of approaching adversity. They wouldn't be far off the mark given the fact that obesity brings with it a host of disease and one ends up spending hard-earned money in fighting the ailments.
What has alarmed doctors is the rise in number of obese children and teens. In fact doctors say that a considerable percentage of patients coming in for obesity surgery happen to be teens and college going youth. Komal Advani a 21-year-old weighs around 60kg. But the 5.5 feet Advani used to weigh 102kg a year back. She underwent obesity surgery to help shed the pounds. "I started putting on weight when I was around 12-years-old.
I used to weigh 70kg then and junk food was to blame for the situation," said Advani. She said that after the surgery she follows a disciplined regime to stay fit. Sonam Shah, an 18-year-old also underwent scar-less obesity surgery in November 2009. She has managed to shed 20 kilos in three months. Doctors say these cases are not the exception but the norm with some patients being as young as 10. President of Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of India(OSSI), Dr Mahendra Narwaria said
"Of the total number of cases that I get, around 15% are teenagers and college youth." "I have seen a considerable rise in such cases in the last four years," said Narwaria. Dr Narwaria said that too much consumption of junk food is just one aspect of the whole problem. "If someone has low-calorie food but eats in excess and often late in the night then the person will put on weight," he said. City doctors say that children living in nuclear families, and children who don't have siblings are more likely to suffer from the problem.
Doctors say that this is because children in nuclear families are left alone most of the time and so they end up eating anything and everything. They say eating while watching television also leads to excess consumption of food.
Supporting the argument, Dr Banshi Saboo, a city-based diabetologist who carried out a survey of 5000 schoolchildren three years ago, told DNA "We covered ten schools in the city and focused on the middle and upper-middle income group." Sahoo said that of the surveyed children, 15% suffered from obesity while another 15% were overweight. Saboo said that of the 50 patients visiting a doctor, at least four are likely to be teenagers. "It is time we teach children about the dangers of obesity," said Saboo.
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