Overweight and obesity in children is a real epidemic in Poland. A report by the World He alth Organization (WHO) shows that the number of overweight children in our country has tripled in the last 20 years. Polish 11-year-olds are fatter than their peers in Europe and the USA. The scale of the problem is growing - scientists are even talking about an obesity epidemic among the young generation.
Obesity and overweight in childrenis becoming a pressing problem. According to research by the Food and Nutrition Institute, the percentage of overweight and obese children and adolescents in Poland in 1995 was less than 9%, and in 2000 it was over 11%. It grew steadily in the following years. Currently, it is almost 16 percent. It's not better with adults. As many as every second struggle with excess kilos. A survey of the he alth of Poles conducted in 16 voivodships confirmed that - according to the BMI index - 62 percent. men and 50 percent. women between the ages of 20 and 74 are overweight or obese. This is a dangerous situation because obesity is a disease - it is not only a matter of aesthetics, but above all he alth.
Obesity in children and adolescents: Polish children among the world's top
One in four children in Europe is obese. In Poland, overweight is currently as much as 29 percent. 11-year-olds and almost the same number of 14-year-olds. WHO covered 207,000 studies. the youngest inhabitants of Europe and North America. Against this background, we fared very badly. Our children were among the most obese. The percentage of overweight 11-year-olds in Poland is the highest in the world. Many of the 12-year-olds weigh over 100 kilograms.
Obesity and overweight in children: what is obesity?
The simplest definition of obesity is that it is a pathological increase in the amount of adipose tissue in the body, resulting from a nutritional disorder - the intake of more energy in food than it consumes. Only 5 percent. children and adolescents with excess body weight obesity is associated with diseases of the endocrine system (e.g. growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism), genetically determined syndromes or taking medications, e.g. corticosteroids. In the remaining 95 percent. overweight and obesity are the result of overfeeding, i.e. consuming more calories than the body needs.
What favorsobesity in children and adolescents?
Besides, these children are not diagnosed with other diseases. Based on the analysis of data collected by the Food and Nutrition Institute, it can be concluded that obesity in children is conducive to:
- male gender,
- being the only child,
- higher income per family member (only for boys),
- living in cities (only boys).
Statistics also show that the largest number of obese children is in the Mazowieckie voivodship, and the least in the Świętokrzyskie voivodship.
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