DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i05.043

Pages: 1700-1710

A variety of mechanisms participate in weight regulation and the development of obesity in children, including genetics, developmental influences (“metabolic programming”, or epigenetics), and environmental factors. The relative importance of each of these mechanisms is the subject of ongoing research and probably varies considerably between individuals and populations. Obesity has a cascade negative health, with grave social and economic consequences. Obesity in children and young adolescents is increasing world-wide, including India, in parallel with economic development. Childhood obesity is a now acknowledged as a growing epidemic which demands a preventive management. It is difficult to assess obesity in the young due to a lack of consensus as to how to measure it, especially severe obesity. The standardized prevalence is difficult to compare amongst different countries due to differences in study design. In the last decade several theories on genesis of childhood obesity have emerged. It is established that the young obese are at increased risk of cardiovascular events in addition to other diseases, and a higher risk of all cause mortality during adulthood. The management is multi-disciplinary and complex, but preventive strategies should be the priority. In all cases efforts to incorporate individualized family counselling is preferred. There is a need to increase the awareness among governments, health care professionals and the community that childhood obesity is a major health problem with substantial economic costs.