Childhood obesity poses multiple risks

In recent years, during the summer vacation, there has been a significant increase in the number of "little chubby" parents coming to the endocrine clinics of major children's hospitals for consultation. Nowadays, many parents pay great attention to their children's nutritional intake, but this attention can sometimes turn into misunderstandings. Sang Gao, Vice President of Hangzhou Children's Hospital and Standing Committee Member of the Pediatric Branch of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, stated in an interview that the harm of childhood obesity is multifaceted. In addition to its impact on physical and mental health, obesity may even lead to attention deficit and intellectual problems. Pay attention to weight management, and the health checkpoint must be moved forward.

With the development of the economy, the living conditions of children have greatly improved. But with it comes excessive intake of high sugar foods, sugary drinks, and reduced physical activity, all of which increase the risk of childhood obesity. The increasing obesity rate among children has become an important public health issue affecting their physical and mental health.

In June of this year, the National Health Commission and 16 other departments jointly issued the Implementation Plan for the "Weight Management Year" campaign, aiming to establish a supportive environment for weight management within about three years from 2024, significantly improve the awareness and skills of weight management among the general public, and improve the abnormal weight status of some populations.

How to determine if a child is obese? Experts suggest that the first step is to consider a child's height, and BMI (Body Mass Index) is the preferred indicator recommended by the international community for evaluating overweight and obesity in children. BMI=weight/square of height. Currently, the "WS/T586-2018 Overweight and Obesity Screening for School aged Children and Adolescents" standard is commonly used to evaluate whether children are overweight or obese.

Sang Gao mentioned that the harm of childhood obesity is multifaceted. Firstly, obesity may lead to changes in children's appearance, which may result in isolation and ridicule in school, thus having a negative impact on their mental health and indirectly affecting their learning motivation and confidence.

Secondly, obesity can lead to various complications, among which the cardiovascular system is the most common, such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia; The respiratory system may also be affected, and many obese children suffer from respiratory diseases such as asthma. In addition, obesity may lead to hyperactivity, attention deficit, and even intellectual problems.

Experts also suggest that from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, obesity can be prevented through physical identification, especially for children with phlegm dampness and qi stagnation, parents should pay special attention. Through the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment methods, including oral medication and external treatment, we hope to provide parents with comprehensive nutritional therapy intervention plans and exercise therapy guidance, and tailor treatment plans for each obese or overweight child, "said Sang Gao.


In terms of exercise, children have different exercise needs at different stages of growth, including different types, durations, and frequencies of exercise. Obesity is particularly prominent in preschool and school aged children, so we recommend that preschool children accumulate three hours of exercise per day, while school aged children should ensure at least one hour of exercise per day and engage in at least three high-intensity exercises per week, "said Sanggao.