Consequences of obesity in adolescence
Adolescence is a complicated stage, both for parents and children, for which the best preparation is the previous years, childhood, especially in terms of healthy lifestyle habits. However, we often find that the changes that our children's bodies experience also affect their metabolism, and it is n
Adolescence is a complicated stage, both for parents and children, for which the best preparation is the previous years, childhood, especially in terms of healthy lifestyle habits.
However, we often find that the changes that our children's bodies experience also affect their metabolism, and it is not easy to adapt to changes. One of those changes affects weight, it is not uncommon to find cases of anorexia and obesity in adolescence. In this case, we focus on the problem of overweight in adolescence.
The problems of obesity in adolescence
As an additional problem, during this stage, physical appearance becomes very important among adolescents, following patterns of appearance, mostly unreal and idealized, marked by fashion or sports magazines. Although this is a problem, it is necessary to take into account that overweight and obesity, as well as extreme thinness, are not problems of appearance, but of health, and that it is necessary to take measures to avoid them and / or to solve them.
Overweight is the result of consuming more calories than the body needs daily for its functions, and is the first step on the road to obesity and cause:
- Circulatory and hypertension problems to accumulate in veins and arteries decreasing its diameter and obstructing blood circulation:
- Heart problems -for similar reasons and for the risk of respiratory hypercholesterolemia, since excess weight hinders all kinds of movement
- Bone problems que, suffering from supporting more weight of what they should.Of all of them, the most common physical problems in adolescence are hypertension, asthma and other respiratory and bone / joint problems associated with weight gain, and the risk of cysts in the ovaries, which are usually associated an amenorrhea.
Strictly,
overweight are not that couple of kilos that our 15-year-old daughter wants to lose before the summer to put on the bikini that she has bought in the sales, because, if her weight is normal for her height and age , those two kilos "of more" do not affect your health. Overweight is a relatively serious excess of weight, which can be calculated in terms of Body Mass Index (BMI) or percentiles.
Above an 85th percentile, that is, when the adolescent's weight is above 85% of children of the same gender, age and height, overweight begins to be serious. In terms of BMI, which is the figure obtained from the following weight / height operation 2, it is considered overweight when it exceeds 21-22 at age 13 and is increasing according to age up to 25 at 19 and in age adultIt is advisable to be aware of the weight and height of our children, since in adolescence, they can vary drastically in a short time, and thus we will be attentive to take measures if necessary.
