The Importance Of Preventing Early Obesity On Children

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JAKARTA - Preventing children from becoming obese can be done early on, in various ways, one of which is through nutrition education in the family since the parents-to-be get married. Dr. Diana F. Suganda, M.Kes, SpGK, a clinical nutritionist who is a member of the Indonesian Clinical Nutritionist Association, said that education is then continued when a woman is pregnant, gives birth, and so on.

Launching Antara, in the phase of providing complementary feeding for ASI (MPASI), for example, parents need to make sure they understand the needs of their children's food in the form of balanced nutrition. This means children need to eat according to their needs, not what they or their parents want.

A child needs food with a nutritional composition, including carbohydrates, animal and vegetable protein, as well as other microelements that are adapted to the needs of the child and the age at which they develop. In this case, parents need to understand to avoid excess calorie intake in their children, in order to avoid the risk of obesity.

Processed foods, frozen foods, canned and snacks should be avoided being introduced to children. It is better to introduce children to fresh and processed foods themselves. Chicken dishes are better than nuggets, then cook minced meat yourself instead of sausages. It is very important to choose fresh foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.

In addition to diet, choosing the right way of cooking is also important. Parents need to reduce cooking food by frying, for example, only a maximum of twice a week. Meanwhile, for the rest, they regulate how to cook by sautéing, making clear soup, making pepes, and baking because this method is considered to be very effective in reducing children's calorie intake.

On the other hand, nutritional literacy can also be done by getting used to reading packaging labels on food and beverage products. Parents can pay attention to the number of calories available in nutrition facts or nutritional value information according to daily needs. This nutritional information is usually measured per serving. There are, for example, 200 calories per serving, but each package contains twice the recommended serving.

Thus, if a meal is consumed immediately, then the calories consumed are twice as much as 200 calories, which is 400 calories. This amount is said to be excessive for a snack or distraction.

In reading the labels on the packaging, parents also need to make sure the sugar levels and salt levels. According to doctors, someone who cares about nutritional needs will always read the packaging labels, limit the portion of calories, salt and sugar according to the daily needs and age of the child.

Furthermore, preventing children from becoming obese does not mean recklessly asking children to reduce food drastically and suddenly. This was said by an endocrinology consultant pediatrician who serves as secretary of the Endocrinology Work Unit of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), Dr. Frida Soesanti SpA(K).

Reducing a child's food drastically and suddenly, will actually make him hungry and craving or a strong desire to consume food, which will cause the child to eat more.

To help restore children's calorie needs according to their age and needs, you can schedule three meals a day and two snacks.

Meals should be more than snacks. Provide a varied menu, consisting of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Make sure the menu is colorful because colorful things are definitely healthy, meaning that the food menu contains fruits and vegetables.

Causes of obesity

Some time ago, the public in Indonesia noticed the fact that a 16-month-old baby who weighed 27 kilograms in the Bekasi area, West Java, had emerged. According to Dr. Frida Soesanti SpA (K), cases of extreme obesity like this are not often found. Currently, a team of doctors from RSCM is still investigating the case.

It is possible that the child has a genetic disorder or abnormal internal factors, not just dietary factors, such as sweetened condensed milk. There is no single factor that causes obesity, including one type of food that causes obesity. In principle, the food consumed must be balanced with the energy expended.

In fact, genetic disorders and hormonal disturbances, which include internal factors that cause obesity, are relatively small compared to obesity caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.

Cases of obesity caused by genetic disorders or hormonal disorders are usually accompanied by other abnormal symptoms. For example, the genetic disorder Prader Willi Syndrome which is characterized by a very large appetite, excess cortisol hormone, or thyroid hormone deficiency which can also cause obesity. Syndromes due to genetic disorders are usually accompanied by other symptoms, such as eye or heart disorders.

Generally, obesity due to internal causes is not accompanied by an increase in height, so the child is short but fat. This is different from children who are overweight which is also accompanied by an increase in their height.

Most of the causes of obesity in children are exogenous factors or factors from the outside environment. It starts with parents who let their children overeat and consume high-calorie foods continuously, without enough physical activity.

There is a view from the family that fat children are cute. In fact, if we know the consequences, obese children are actually not funny.

The long-term consequence of obesity is the emergence of serious complications, such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, to fatty liver that come early. Obesity causes inflammation in the body's cells continuously which leads to the emergence of various chronic diseases.

Therefore, in order to prevent children from developing obesity which can lead to serious complications, early prevention, starting from nutrition education for prospective parents to parents carefully reading the nutritional composition labels on packaged food, needs to be done.