DEFEAT CHILDHOOD OBESITY

What is the true cause of childhood depression?

2007-10-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday following the news on TV, I knew about a boy of 18 years old threw himself from his bedroom window, now this terrible news beyond provoking a deep pain for a broken young life, shocked me when I knew that the reason was the: “depression”.

The boy was isolated from the external world, why mocked from his friends, because his chubby look, provoking in him a deep sense of shame towards his classmates.

The victim was of male sex and seems that in the last years it's increasing the number of persons of such sex that has depression troubles, when instead a study leaded in Finland on a sample of persons women with humor depression in childhood and adolescence has shown a high risk developing overweight and obesity equal to 11 times the risk of who is not depressed.

Other studies have evidenced the presence at the same time of humor's depression and obesity in the female population observing that the obese women are tendentially more depressed then the normal weight women and the overweight or normal weight men.

The last worrisome data, demonstrates that childhood depression is not anymore prerogative all female.

An effective treatment to defeat this disease must consider both disturbs using a therapeutic strategy able to face at the same time the depression and the obesity.

The depression is caused also from the early puberty that beyond submitting the girls to a physical transformation and sexual specific characteristics, suffering the hormonal changes that affecting the cerebral functions, so influencing their psychological condition.

The girls don't accept the physical changes provoked from the puberty, suffering for the weight increase and for the image loss skinny and long-limbed of the prepuberal period idealized from the fashion.

Triggering causes:

genetic factors (hereditariness);

alcoholism or drug abuse of the parents;

maternal depression (can increase the risk of the onset of disturbs depressed);

quality of the familiar relationships.

Life events:

loss of a parent;

divorce of the parents;

sexual violence and physical ill-treatments, according to the data for a great association of american psychologists the 37% of women have suffered violence before the age of 21 years;

loss of an affective tie;

study failures;

loneliness and low self-esteem.

This condition is found in adolescents with difficult familiar situation, parents alcoholic or drug addict or in adolescents who have suffered sexual abuses.

It's my firm belief that for dealing this type of disease, the only true effective medicine for the cure, remains always the closeness and the affects of the parents who have the duty and the hard task, but not impossible, decoding the first alarm bells that can lead the sons towards the tunnel of depression.

Most probably the keyword curing this disease is: “dialogue”.
Having a dialogue with the own sons it doesn't means only to speak but also to be able to listen, using the communication like a vehicle of outlet of all fears and the anxieties that our boys today have, but that they keep secretly for them, since in this our society where all is in frenetic movement we don't have more time to stop and to pick the true meaning of our existence, which gives a healthy value to our life: “our sons”.

Often I ask myself: “How it's possible to barter the interior peacefulness or the smile of our sons with one fleeting-life?”. Instantly, I feel a sense of liberation and gratification in answering myself: “material goods are lost, while the higher affect remain”.

“Don't close the stable door after the horse has bolted”.

Diabetes + Obesity= Diabesity

2007-09-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

It's well-known since a long time that the obesity and the overweight are diseases that cause the type 2 diabetes, in fact the cases of type 2 diabetes are increased with the increment of the obesity and of the overweight and for that the UE (European Union) has coined a new word to describe the straight relation between two diseases: “diabesity”.

The american scientist J. Freidman (molecular geneticist) has discovered a hormone – the leptina – which, produced from adipose tissue, it would pass to the brain the hunger sensation and the gene's mutation of the obesity would provoke an insatiable hunger carrying to the overweight.

So, the obesity is not caused only from our life style and the unhealthy eating habits, but also from our genes.

The obesity does not depend on the amount of the weight of the body but the amount of the fat of the body and specifically from the adipose tissue.

The recent accomplished studies revealed that the obese children for the excessive fat storage in the abdominal area have a reduction of insulin efficiency which the body needs to convert the glucose in energy, with the result that the pancreas works producing insulin more and more and at the end it can be exhausted causing the diabetes a disease that according to the expectations will reach epidemic proportions.

This shows that there's a close tie between the two diseases that goes of equal step, in fact the 80% of the diabetics are overweight, the factors that are in common the obesity with the type 2 diabetes are:

sedentary life;

abundant food choice;

unhealthy eating habits.

The diabetes can cause cardiovascular troubles as:

heart attack;

ictus;

renal insufficiency;

arteriopathy:

infections.

The bad news:

there's no way to healing from diabetes.
But the cures of this disease in last years are much improved because it's understood that is better to act from the first phase reducing the damages.

If before it was aimed to temporize now at the first signs begins an instant targeted cure, so acting first and also in customized way, considering more factors like pressure values or cholesterol levels with the purpose to choose the right cure.

The good news:

if the available therapies are followed up with constance it's possible leading a regular life.
The therapy's target is keeping the glycaemia to the “normal level”.

When to a child is diagnosed the type 2 diabetes he must be taught to monitor the disease, like measuring the glycaemia, the kind of physical activity and the diet that he must follow up.

If the child during the diagnosis is in good health, he'll be submitted to a program of physical exercises, but otherwise it'll be necessary giving up the insulin administration.

Keeping under control:

the eyes;

kidneys;

the blood pressure.

The principal ingredients for the successful healthy life are: “WEIGHT FORM, BALANCED DIET AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY”.

Celiac - Discover the link with the obesity

2007-09-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

Against the common believe, it's seems that there's a connection between the obesity and the celiac, even if today the scientific researchers are trying to find some confirms.

Most probably the causes that link these two diseases are:

- genetic predisposition;

- the malabsorption syndrome that cause a desire of the food, despite having absorbed enough calories. When the caloric amount is excessive the need of continuous eating, carrying the main fat through the body, so the pancreas's activity is reduced damaging the capacity of the cells to burn the fat stored provoking the weight's increase.

Definition:

the celiac is much diffused disease, but still very little known because of the insufficient information's campaign about this issue, a digestive disease of genetic origin that provokes the malabsorption of the food, is caused from chronic inflammation of the tenuous intestine due to the immunity reaction triggered from a mix of proteins – gliadins – contained in the “gluten”, protein that is founds in the grain and cereals.

When it appears.

in pediatric age with the following symptoms:

weight loss;

diarrhoea;

low growth;

anaemia;

herpetiforme dermatitis.

It can show itself also in adult age, in some cases the patient doesn't introduce any symptoms, for this reason it's known of:

Silent celiac:

there are alterations in the patients intestinal mucosa, but the subjects doesn't show the symptoms, because it's interested only one part of the tenuous intestine, but the remaining works regularly. But it's possible that increasing the doses of “gluten” present in the feeding, they trigger the symptoms.

Latent celiac:

the patient shows the genetic sensibility to the disturb but doesn't have neither the intestinal mucosa damaged nor the symptoms.
But it's possible that increasing the assumed doses of “gluten” with the feeding, because an important event, like a surgery intervention, pregnancy or childbirth, they trigger the symptoms.

Diagnosis:

a child who doesn't grow must be submitted to a pediatric visit and must have a test verifying the existence of the malabsorption syndrome.
Blood exams revealing the responsible antibody presence of the disease.
For a confirm of the diagnosis it's necessary to resort the intestinal biopsy and to state the damages provoked by the gluten to the intestinal mucosa.

If the child is too little it's necessary repeating the exam after 6 months of gluten-free diet and after others 6 months of diet containing the gluten.
All this to establish that the damages to the intestinal mucosa is provoked from the gluten.

The treatment:

despite this is a disease much diffused that it can have serious consequences for the child's and adult's health, actually is possible to cure it just with a gluten-free diet for lifetime.

Warning:

during the cooking of the meals, avoid accurately, to use the same cutlery stirring food for the family and the celiac subject, because you could contaminate the food of the patient rendering the gluten-free diet inefficient.

If the gluten free diet is not followed exactly it risks to develop the following diseases:

low height (most of all when the disease is developed in childhood age and so the malabsorption syndrome provokes denutrition);

abdominal pains;

delay of development puberal;

liver's diseases;

intestinal cancer (intestinal linphom, adenocarcinoma);

osteoporosis (provoked from a malabsorption of the calcium);

epileptic convulsions (caused from a deficiency of folic acid);

type 2 diabetes (youth insulin-dependent).

Advices:

try to get, through the celiac associations, the “manual” to carry always with you, a products's list of which the industries warranty the absolute absence of gluten.
Who says that the celiacs are forced to deprive themselves of the pleasures of the tables?
The problem, following a gluten-free diet, can be afforded with much serenity without renouncing to the taste and the social life.
No to gluten, yes to the eating pleasures!!!

Fighting nervous anorexia

2007-08-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

"Mom would you buy for me?", that’s the question that my children ask me, insistently, watching TV, pressed with full marketing of misleading messages that suggest hypercaloric food and drinks, all set in idyllic background spiced with the presence of fascinating and skinny models who follow a risk diet surrounded with handsome guys pumped with steroids, all muscles and no brain.

Surely, all this contributes, not only to the increasing of our children obesity, influencing them to assume unhealthy eating habits, but also producing the eating disorders generating in our children a distorted and unhealthy image of the body beauty.

Among many diseases caused by the eating disorders, the “Anorexia” today is in increasingly worry.

What’s the “Anorexia”:

- it’s loss appetite;
- it’s the iron will to refuse the food.

According to the statistics, the Anorexia is a disease that affect the female sex in 95% of the cases and is verified a genetic predisposition.

The causes:

The provoking factors can be:

1. risk diet;
2. a stress situation (the girl psychologically is a weak and uncertain person);
3. parents’s separation;
4. mourning in family;
5. first sexual experiences;
6. loss of self-esteem.

It’s a basic importance also the puberal change (sexual maturation) that often for the girl becomes a trauma.

The symptoms:

weight loss until 30% of her initial weight;
fear to fatten also being skinny;
interruption of the menstrual cycle from at least 3 months.

How we can help them?

If the cures at home are not sufficient, is necessary an recovering in an ambulatory or hospitals structures, where the girl is supervised by professional equipe composed by:

Endocrinologists, psychiatrics, child neuropsychiatric, nutritionists and dietists.

During the recovering the girl is controlled by the following exams:

- ECG (electrocardiogram) to check of the operation of the heart;
- blood exams to monitor the girl’s anaemia;
- meeting with the psychiatric to obtain the data on the life history of the girl talking with and without her parents;
- alternative feedings when the girl is in bad nutritional conditions, or when her refuse persists in the food causing the heart troubles, is necessary intravenous feeding or a nose gastric tube.

What’s the rescue?

The equipe must have like final goal the “Triumph”, giving her spurring taking care of herself and when she comes back home, making her to rediscover the pleasures of life included those for the food and to accept the aid of qualified persons who can conduct her taking by hand and leading her beyond the suffering tunnel helping her to touch the “Light” which same light that some year ago gave her the “Life”.

Resuming: “Don’t throw away your inner beauty just for fleeting joy!!!”

Sexual maturation as early puberty

2007-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

A year ago during my daughter's health control, who actually is seven years old, for pollen allergy suspect, the doctors noticed the beginning of secondary sexual characters as: breast growing, pubic hair and consequently I told the doctors that my child was having, by several months, heavy sweating too.

The doctors inspecting the problem advised me to monitor the early transformation best known as: "Early puberty".

After the initial sense of anxiety and confusion, I thought to myself: "It's unbelievable, my little child is becoming already a woman".

I decided to assure a healthy future to my daughter following with much attention the endocrinologist's advices as:

· Pelvic Ecography: to monitor the ovaries, uterus and follicles dimension to see if the child is ready for menstruation.

· Left wrist X ray: to control the bone growing since if becomes too soon there is the probability the child's eight stops with the beginning of menstruation, risking to remain under-average against to her classmates.

· Blood exam: hormonal dosage DEHA-S (sexual hormones. By checking the hormones dosage to value the function sexual glands either female or male), glycemia and diabetes.

The early puberty also involves the children from the age of 9 to 14 years, revealing with following signs:

- developing armpit, pubic and facial hair;

- penis growing and testicular enlargement.

The early puberty for little girls begins between the age of 8 to 13 years.
While for the female eight amount begins with the growing the breast, for male the growing stars at mid premature development.

Psychological consequences.

An important phase and most of all not to under estimate is the "psychological disturbs" which may provoke the early puberty in the child, who faces physical transformations for which still is not ready and causes in her a sense of diversity and isolation against her classmates.

After learning that also my child is in the early puberty phase, a question which worried me was: "How to explain to my little child her sexual transformation? To my baby who still plays with dolls and loves the fairy tales?".
The answer I achieved to find only in the deep of my heart, creating with her a very confidential and lovely dialogue, explaining her in clear and comprehensive words , what was happening at her body.

We can do a lot to monitor the early puberty following few, but precise rules:

- to control the body weight, avoiding to become obese or overweight;

- to educate the children to a daily physical activity;

- to insert in their hypercaloric diet, meat without xeno-estrogens (giving
hormones to fatten and grow the animals rapidly) as: chicken, beef and
pork's meat.

These chemical substances are present in:

- DDT (pesticide for agricultural production);

- industrial detersive;

- canned food.

The overexposition of such hormones causes an increase of womens cancer to:

- breast, uterus, endometrium and ovaries;

and for men to:

- prostate, testicular and male sterility.

So, to prevent the early puberty:"WATCH OUT TO THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK".

How to monitor weight loss?

2007-07-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Too much TV-->Too much junk-food-->Lack physical activity = OBESITY.

Childhood obesity is a disease that goes treated with the professional support like: doctors, dietists and psycologists could provide help kids to start this slow and difficult way.

The prevention is basic if assisted through a "Program" based on self-control.
The rules of prevention are:

To reduce the sedentariness: to avoid that our children spend most of their time watching TV and playing videogames influenced by marketing, misleading advertising about softdrinks, hypercaloric snack and other foods.
Daily physical activity: a long walking is surely healtier and is the equivalent to waste energy almost 3 times higher than that obtained spending the same time watching TV. Especially are suggested: swimming and biking. The benefits of physical activity are many, from reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases to improvement of mental health.
Balanced nutrition: the dietetic therapy beyond having the purpose to reduce the weight of child also should educate him and his family to stable nutrition looking for:

To reduce the caloric insertion.
To introduce meals that makes feel gratified.
To control the introduction of fat and proteins of animal origins.
To increase the contribution of carbohydrates to high absorption like fruit and vegetables.
To dicrease the quantity of sample sugar.
To increase the income of fibers with integral food and the daily insertion of vitamins and minerals.

The overweight's reduction must be gradual and at long-term. Planning new nutrional habits either in the child's life or in all family, preventing mistakes in the nutrion from the part of the family members.

The child must feel himself like a protagonist of choosing the food respecting the right nutrition and not to consider the hypercaloric diet an order.

To not become overweight and to live in healthy way it's very important to give a "rhythm" to the daily nutrition.

To the 3 main meals, namely:

- breakfast

-lunch;

- dinner;

is necessary to add 2-3 light snacks as: yogurth, some fruit or milk avoiding snacks and cracker hypercaloric.

All this to avoid getting the child at the table too starved.

A health feeding education is checking the food's quality but also the quantity of the consumed food.

Concluding: a good quality = a right quantity.

Eating smarter and being more active!!!

Defeat childhood obesity

2007-06-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

In the last few years childhood obesity has shown to be an issue of critical and increasing importance. A little boy is considered obese if he exceeds his ideal weight by 25%; the threshold is set at 30% for little girls. A child’s ideal weight can be easily calculated on the base of BMI (body massive index). If you want to check your child’s weight you can visit the website: http://www.cdc.gov/ and write "BMI" in the search engine.

Childhood obesity is frequently a consequence of an unbalanced nutrition, more and more based on fat and caloric food, lacking in proteins and nutritive value. Children often eat casually and prefer snacks and soft drinks. Parents tend to buy ready-to-eat products rather than cook themselves with natural ingredients. Purchase decisions in our consumer society are influenced by marketing and misleading advertising, which affect nutrition and deploy its biggest effects on youth.

We lead an inactive life, too. We ride our children at school by car and drive to the workplace, regardless the health effects of a long walk. Our kids like to spend most of their time watching TV, playing videogames and eating junk-food, rather than go out and play.

We all know that genetic factors "weight heavily" too: the risk of becoming obese is 40% higher among children who have one obese parent. For this reason it is extremely important to educate children to eat correctly since the first years of life. Parents bear the responsibility of orienting the eating habits in the family and making their children develop a personal relationship with food, eventually keeping them on a slimming diet.

In this society of the "bite and flee" is essential getting together for lunch of dinner time.
So the primary target of the parents is to trasmetting to the children the right way to follow a healthy diet.

The first step to defeat the obesity is to change slowly and gradually our life-style and explaining the benefits we obtains by loosing weight.
For example: getting more energy, social respect, major safety and self-esteem.

The parents must also know that the obesity brings:
PREMATURE CONSEQUENCES as:
RESPIRATORY: apnea, sleeplessness and difficulties paying attention to homeworks or studies.
TIREDNESS: articular disturbs. Leggs crossed as a bow or X. Flat feet reduced mobility, articular pain.
DIGESTING APPARATUS DISTURBS: calculus stones in gallbladder
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISEASE: children usually make fun of fat friends and discriminate them, because they are awkward and tend not to take part in sports. Consequently, obese children feel often ashamed, lose confidence and self-esteem and prefer to spend most of their time at home, watching TV, eating chips and taking soft drinks.

EARLY PUBERTY: the obesity can cause early puberty in girls as:
1) Downy.
2) Heavy sweating.
3)Breast growth.
In such cases the specialist (endoctrinologist) will suggest lab. exams like:
1) Pelvic Ecography.
2) Left wrist X ray.
3) Blood exam. Hormonal dosage for glycemia to diabetes control.
4) Measuring the height and the weight for early growing.

LATE CONSEQUENCES: a child who has been obese in the infancy has more chance becoming obese in the adult-age and be exposed to the nature's disturbs:
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: high blood pressure.
MUSCOLAR SKELETAR: premature arthrosis.
METABOLISM TROUBLES: diabets, hypercolesterol.
FOOD TROUBLES: gastroenteric cancer.

All these consequences must spur parents to improve and make children’s lifestyle more healthy. If necessary, a specialist could provide psychological support and help kids to start this slow and difficult way.

A winning move to achieve the best results in the struggle against childhood obesity is to integrate psychological training with recreational and cultural activities, such as acting in theatre, cinema or courses which stimulate kids to experience their manual skills, like painting on ceramics, clay modelling, carving in wood…

Every children have a passion or inner interest and this can be a great opportunity to help them to express their personality. Never forget to support and trust them during their difficult change of eating habits. Children have a surprising interior strength: if their skills are correctly addressed, they are able to make a healthy and happy future come true.

This is the point of view of a mother who loves her children immensely. In this technologically advanced society everything evolves swiftly and we can’t take our time to meditate about what is really important in our life. I am firmly convinced that we have the duty to teach health principles to our children and improve the world, by rediscovering our origins and taking care of nature. Why don’t we start by nutrition, teaching our children to eat natural and genuine food?

Take action for healthy nutrition!!!

2007-06-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

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