More than a third of Canadian children aged 2 to 11 are
overweight, and half that number are obese, which will make the rates of
diabetes and CVD SOAR!, according to newly published Statistics Canada data.
Worse, Canada now has more fat children than fat
adults. And the younger the children, the greater the obesity problem -- a clear
sign, experts say, that Canada's obesity epidemic is galloping out of control
and that the health consequences will be staggering.
"The rates are extremely high, but what is truly
frightening is that we're seeing the most pronounced increases in the very
young," said Oded Bar-Or, the director of the Children's Exercise and Nutrition
Centre at McMaster University.
According to the data, he added, one in four
Canadian children aged 2 to 3 is considered clinically obese, meaning at least
one-third of the body weight is comprised of fat.
"This is not baby fat," Dr. Bar-Or said
yesterday. "Childhood obesity is now accompanied by real, serious medical risks.
It's not an aesthetic problem." Because overweight children tend to become
overweight and obese adults, it is widely predicted that rates of diabetes and
cardiovascular disease will soar.
According to Statistics Canada, 37 per cent of
children are overweight, including 18 per cent who are obese. By comparison, 32
per cent of adults are overweight and 15 per cent are obese. (Other research has
shown, however, that up to 48 per cent of Canadian adults are overweight.)
"The situation now is like a boat that's drifting
closer and closer to the rocks, and we have to act before the boat actually hits
the rocks," said Peter Nieman, a Calgary pediatrician who is in the process of
setting up a pediatric obesity clinic. "If we wait, we're going to be paying the
price in terms of bad health and big health-care bills for decades to come."
He said the new findings confirm a trend that
practitioners and public-health officials have been witnessing for years, but
they are also a source of frustration.
The Statistics Canada data, which are drawn from
the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, make it clear that
obesity has its roots in inactivity.
Thirty-eight per cent of obese children were
found to be inactive, meaning they were not participating weekly in a single
organized activity (such as sports or dance classes) or unorganized activity
(such as bicycling). An equal number, 38 per cent, were active, meaning they
participated in four activities a week.
Dr. Nieman said there is no doubt that the number
one challenge is to get children off the couch and out playing. "Obesity is a
process that happens over time, and it can be prevented by keeping kids active."
Research published last year showed that
childhood obesity is becoming a worldwide epidemic, not just a Western
phenomenon.
Source: Diabetes In Control Dot Com.
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