Parents ‘must get help for obese children’

PARENTS must stop making excuses for their obese children and get help, a doctor has urged.

One-in-four Irish children is either overweight or obese, according to figures released by the European Task Force on Obesity.

Such children are already well on their way to developing heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Dr Eva Orsmond, who specialises in treating obesity in children, said in most cases the problem was lifestyle-related and a lot of junk food was involved.

Childhood obesity has been spiralling in the last two decades. Ireland is in the top slot with Britain in the European obesity stakes.

Increasing prosperity, a greater reliance on convenience foods, a tendency to snack more often and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle are all contributing to the problem.

“Parents are waiting for the weight to fall off their children but it actually gets worse,” said Dr Orsmond.

“I saw one child who came for the initial assessment in July but the parents did not decide to start my programme until the following January. The child put on a stone in weight over the six-month period.”

The doctor said it took eight months for the child just to shed the extra stone in weight.

Dr Orsmond sees children whose weight is double what it should be. “In effect, their heart is beating for two children,” she said.

Dr Orsmond has also seen 10-year-old children with a cholesterol level of 6.5. “That would be very dangerous for an adult man or woman who would be advised to take statin medications.”

Dr Orsmond only treats children who are 11 or over.

“It is easier to train a child to have good eating habits at 12 months but it is eminently possible but more difficult to do it at 12 years of age,” she said.

Parents, however, find it very difficult to accept that it was their fault that their child is overweight. “It might seem awful but parents need to learn to say ‘no’ to their children when they look for food.”

Parents also needed to accept that they needed help. “The entire family has to change their lifestyle. It is not about diet, it’s about getting the right balance,” she said.

Dr Orsmond has developed a 12-week programme to get children to lose between five to 10% of their body mass over the three-month period. In some cases, however, such a weight loss can be too much for some children.

“You have to take each case individually and see where the problem is and how it can be remedied gradually without making the child miserable.”

More information about Dr Orsmond’s clinic is available at www.shapeup.ie.