Health professionals are seeing children who skip breakfast, eat high-fat foods for lunch and snack until bedtime because a hectic lifestyle prevents their working parents from making regular dinners. The number has gone up dramatically in the last two decades and there are several serious health consequences. More obese children also are being treated by Prapti Kanani, pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital, for high cholesterol and high blood pressure. In his pediatric practice, Rajakumar has seen myriad other childhood health woes that he attributes to obesity. Extra folds of flesh in the throat can obstruct airways, causing sleep apnea, or periodic cessation of breathing, he said.
Obesity can cause fatty deposits in the liver, leading to inflammation.
Excess weight can cause joint problems in growing bones, he said. One example is slipping of the femoral head, which occurs when the head of the thigh bone pops out of the hip socket. The condition, which most often affects overweight boys between the ages of 11 and 15, requires surgery. What bothers the medical community is that behavioral changes would prevent most of these problems because the major causes of obesity are a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition. Today's parents tend to believe they aren't being good to their children unless they allow them to drink soda pop and sugary desserts, Arslanian said.