It would sound very strange that Africa, a continent usually synonymous with hunger, is facing problems due to obesity; though obesity and problem are almost synonymous now. Like anywhere in the world, the problem of obesity is triggered by new lifestyles.

It sounds doubly surprising though that people in Africa do not like to lose the weight like we do in America or in Europe–they feel that a person who is losing weight is suffering from TB or AIDS!

It has been estimated that around 1/3 of African women and 1/4 of African men are overweight, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that it will rise by 41% among women and 30% in men in the next 10 years.

Though the figures are not startling as compared to the ones that are available in more affluent countries, but it is sure that it could plague the advancement of the continent, which is already very much disturbed by AIDS virus, malaria, and poverty-related diseases. It is astounding to know that in the whole world, the figure of overweight people is more than the undernourished ones–an estimated 1 billion of people are overweight as compared to 800 million who are undernourished.

We can easily gauge the dilemma that can confound almost every individual that has some news of the world health conditions–many children are suffering from obesity in America and European countries, and at the same time, many are undernourished or poorly fed in some countries where poverty is prevalent. From the above figures, it is clear that lifestyle has made more obese people than the ones who do not get the required food. It is clear that if we regulate our lifestyle, we can easily save some food that can be provided to someone who does not get it that easily.

We should not be overly surprised if we come to know some diseases that comes along and any disadvantages of obesity, which is breaking new grounds almost everyday; but we will need to react when we learn that obesity can do something for our benefit. It is a well-known fact that obesity is a potential risk factor for breast cancer after menopause, but many do not know that it also appears to help protect women from developing the disease earlier in life. Well, this could sound a little bit difficult to believe that obesity could have any advantage, but according to the study conducted on breast cancer and obesity, it has been found that obese young women are less prone to breast cancer.

A recent study has shown that overweight has been linked to menstrual cycle irregularities and other medical conditions that limit ovulation, which means lower circulating levels of the breast-cancer-promoting hormones estradiol and progesterone. It can clearly be seen that obesity helps to protect against breast cancer prior to menopause, by reducing circulating levels of these sex hormones. But it is not so after the menopause, and obesity has all its dangers after that stage!

The study undertaken for this fact was conducted on a large-scale and for a long-period of time: researchers from the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital studied more than 113,000 pre-menopausal female nurses participating in an ongoing health study. These participating nurses were followed from 1989 to 2003, during which around 1,398 cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed. However, women who were obese at the time of diagnosis, showed 19% lower breast cancer risk than normal-weight women, which is of course considerable to back the study.

It is clear that we could be able to go to the root of this cause once more research is done on this subject, but it is obvious that the results from this study clearly show that there is something better in obesity.

Obesity is a major problem, and almost all the nations of the world are acclaiming it as an epidemic that is potentially dangerous to the coming generation. However, there are many things that can help to manage or maintain a specific weight level, which can avoid you to fall in the category of obese people.

The measure of obesity is best defined from the body mass index, which is a clear indication of fat that your body has accumulated. According to the statistics provided by WHO–The World Health Organization–the body mass index (BMI) is classified as: BMI of 25 to 29.9 as overweight, and 30 to 39.9 as obese. You can easily check this and whether you fall under this category or not. 

Once you know that you are overweight or obese, you might be already knowing that this is due to the improper balance of your weight according to your height. If you are overweight, there are many ways to begin to lose weight, which may include talking to your doctor about various changes in your life-style and food habits. There is no question that you won’t be successful in lowering your weight, but you will need to be very determined in order to achieve that goal–putting reminders on refrigerators and keeping a record of what you have eaten help in this cause.

It is also very good to know that what food types contain what type of calories. You might be able to calculate the calories that you need to intake and also how much to expend by doing some physical work, exercise, or walking during morning and evening. Reducing the number of hours of inactivity can also help to reduce the weight, as when you are indulging in some physical work, it helps you to maintain a good metabolism in your body.

Obesity debate is picking up the heat, and more and more universities and research teams are gearing to find out the causes and the solutions. In a very recent research study conducted at Penn State University, a team of researchers have found some clues about human obesity from dragonfly’s metabolic disease.

This research is going to help the research understand that what is actually causing the problem in human children, which is termed now almost an “epidemic”. The results of the study reveal that parasite-infected dragonflies suffer from same metabolic disorders that make humans obese. It also points some clues to the type-2 diabetes in humans. So, we can easily gauge that this research is going to be very crucial in further investigations that scientists and researchers would indulge in.  

The problem of obesity is causing major havoc across the world, and people of all ages are suffering from this disease. However, according to the statistics provided by many organizations clearly indicates that children are more prone to obesity. Problems in metabolism are deemed as the major cause, as seen from this research. We can easily visualize the problems of metabolism that are easily increased by types of food that children eat; amount of exercise they do; and also the regulation of their life-style that they adopt. All these factors combine to make a collective mass, which turns into obesity among the children.

So much talk has been done on these issues, which can clearly put a resistance on obesity, and we need to stress it again and again:

• Eat good types of food–avoid junk and fast food as much as you can.
• Eat fibrous food, which is full of nutrition.
• Enjoy doing exercise, and walking in morning and evening.

Once we prepare ourselves with these guards, the attack of obesity will certainly be abated from its ferocity.

The problem of obesity among the children is hanging high–it has caused a major uproar among the health specialists and researchers who are worried as to what can be done to put resistance to this epidemic. Since 1980, the percentage of children being overweight ranging between 6-11 years has doubled, nationally. 

The condition is not so much bright among the Hispanic children, and they are also troubled to find that while one in every six American children aged 6-19 years in obese, one in every three children is likely to be obese in urban Hispanic areas–this clearly shows the impact of obesity that has encompassed cultures and different habits of life-style.

However, not a very encouraging statistics is on hand–according to the National Diabetes Education Program, Native Americans are nearly 3 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic Whites of similar age. Though, it is found that Pima Indians holds the highest rate of diabetes in the world.

The only thing that can make everybody stand against this problem is information and knowledge. People must understand the problems that obese children might have to face during their adulthood, and in the childhood itself. It has been noticed that obese children receive less acceptance from their peers, and discrimination from adults. The sense of rejection and self-disgust make them to fail often, which robs them off of their confidence, and to be a valuable and active member of society. Their interpersonal skills lack any confidence and they often submit to the social pressure–children tend to withdraw their involvement to there rooms and houses only, which is of course a dangerous development according to child psychology. Children need more freedom and sense of belongingness, so that they can bloom in full splendor. We, as adults, guardians and parents, must make them happy by making them not suffer from this problem by regulating our and their lives.

Breastfeeding is one of the most cherished and endorsed topic that doctors like to give to new mothers for the welfare of their babies. Now, as have found another area where it shows positive impacts: it has been observed that breastfeeding can curb the possibilities of being obese among the children.

Government need to launch new drives to make this thing happen–lack of knowledge and awareness about the potency of this fact makes it a meek weapon before the terrifying demon of obesity, which is threatening almost the whole world. Children are the worst-hit victims of this demon, Obesity. It often sounds too much odd that despite its proven benefit, breastfeeding is not considered as a key member of any drive that is launched to cover this issue of social health.

The Australian Government has strongly supported the facts and recommendations that are provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Health and Medical Research Council, which include breastfeeding exclusively infants to six months of age. In the modern times, breastfeeding had faced a major threat from many issues, like, figure-consciousness of women, other products that are supplemented too early, etc. However, like an old-age and proven-fact, breastfeeding remains the best food that can be administered to infants, which make them able to fight many diseases, and very recently obesity also.

Very recently, the debate about breastfeeding has picked up, and other areas where it serves very well the infants are also explored which include cardio-vascular problems, etc. We might be able to see new voices adding their strength to its potency, and new campaign could possible be seen coming out, which will make mothers aware the value of their milk given to the children. We will also need to adopt the same strategy in our houses and localities also, if we want to put some resistance to the growing problem of obesity.

The problem of overeating and eating disorders is not so sparkling, so that it could come to light easily–with vast variety of food items available in the market, people are more prone to succumb to the habit of overeating and to eating disorders. 

It has been noticed by health specialists that the US market is filled with too many food items that consumers often find hard to resist from eating–it makes them to lose the track of their eating habits, and they are not aware what and how much pounds they are gaining from each food item, which invariably makes them fat and obese–they do not know what amount of energy spending and exercise is needed for all types of food items, and therefore, the weight keeps on increasing day-by-day.

It is noticeable here that a very recent study has revealed that even aged women are feeling that they are suffering from eating disorders. Children are also found to be suffering from eating disorders. Obesity is one of the major problems that children of Europe and America are facing. And no wonder that overeating is making children more prone to this physical condition, which is complemented by fast food, junk food, computer games, and watching TV late night, etc. It can be well understood that children watching TV late in night are more prone to obesity, as they tend to overeat and suffer from eating disorders.

Children are needed to be aware about what they eat and how much they need–parents and guardians of children need to make them playing more and doing some exercise. If possible, morning and evening walks in gardens or parks would also serve a good purpose. It would make them expend energy that they will gain from various types of food items.

Diabetes is one of the major problems that today’s world face so frequently: among European children, type 1 diabetes is a growing problem, and it is estimated that it has increased around 5-6 times in the past 50-60 years. The University of Helsinki, Finland, is all set to coordinate a study to determine whether early nutritional modification can prevent type 1 diabetes later in childhood–the study will be conducted at 76 study-centers in 15 countries. It will surely be the first of its kind, and it will be aiming to find some primary methods to prevent type 1 diabetes among the children. The study will involve finding answers that whether excluding cow’s milk protein from the infant’s diet decreases the risk of future diabetes?

All subjects involved in the study are followed for 10 years to get information whether the dietary recommendations for infants at increased genetic risk of type 1 diabetes should be revised or not? –the infants that are provided such recommendations, have at least one family member affected by type 1 diabetes and carry a HLA genotype conferring increased risk for type 1 diabetes.

Children’s problems almost seem to be increasing and more and more studies are needed to ensure proper dietary recommendations that could be offered to the infants who are at an increased risk of facing such problems in the childhood. Obesity is another major and growing problem among the children, which has much to do with the diet and the food types that children eat. Type 1 diabetes is another one, which if found to be true, could be controlled with proper nutrient diet in the infants. We need to pay more attention towards the value of diet that we administer to children right from their birth–it needs careful attention and proper monitoring so that the children can grow healthier and strong.