Childhood Obesity: Causes, Complications and Preventive Strategies

Abstract

Obesity has become more prevalent in the recent decades and is expected to
become one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century,
especially in low- and middle-income countries. According to UNICEF and
WHO estimates, in 2000, about 30 million children under the age of 5 were
overweight or obese, and this number rising significantly to 37 million children
in 2022. Obesity rates among children and adolescents aged 5-19 years also
increased 10-fold between 1975 and 2022. In 2022, 159 million (65 million girls
and 94 million boys) were obese, compared to 11 million (5 million girls and 6
million boys) in 1975. In Iraq, the number of children and adolescents aged 5-19
years who are overweight reached 5 564 610 in 2020, and the number is
expected to rise to about 9 472 248 in 2035, which puts them at constant risk of
complications of obesity, which is expected to reduce the average lifespan of
children by half in the future.
Objectives of this study:
1.Definition of overweight and obesity in children and knowledge of the causes
and risk factors leading to obesity and its consequences on children’s physical
and psychological health and its negative effects on family and community.
2.Providing recommendations and proposals that include health and nutritional
awareness programs for children, parents, health center workers, educational
process managers in the schools and kindergartens, and local governments to
combat obesity and detect it in its early stages and develop treatment plans to
control excess weight.