In recent times, diseases that were associated only with adults have now become universal. Even children are getting diseases such as diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin which is a hormone produced in the pancreas, an organ near the stomach.
Insulin is needed to turn sugar and other food into energy. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should, or both. T
his causes sugars to build up too high in the blood.Childhood obesity is said to be the cause of this mystery, as children are affected in every way due to such problems with their weight.
Diabetes, hypertension and cardiac problems are now claiming young victims.A report published by the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity states that an estimated 22 million children worldwide below the age of five are overweight.
Generally child obesity happens during the ages of 5 and 6 and also in the adolescent period.
The child may weigh higher than normal which should be a warning signal for parents to make necessary changes in diet and lifestyle.
More than three million out of Ghana's estimated twenty million population is overweight or obese, according to statistics on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in seven African countries.
The countries include Ghana, Congo Brazzaville, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Reports say obesity in children is increasing even in Ghana, posing a threat to the health of the future leaders.
World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics show that obesity related diseases which had become a major public health challenge in the 21st century claim the lives of over 17 million people annually.
Mrs. Margaret Atuahene, Nutritionist and PhD Candidate at the School of Public Health at a Ghana Health Service (GHS) seminar to launch "Child Health Week' promotion in Accra disclosed that Ghana is getting closer to diabetes becoming an epidemic, in the city and also happening in the rural areas because so much is being imported into the system.
She said that currently, much of the food children consume is high in cholesterol coupled with lack of exercise.
"These days they sit in front of television sets and play video games always. Now every room has a television and everybody is using the remote control instead of getting up to regulate TV."
She said sometimes children put pressure on parents to get them foods from fast foods joints, restaurants and hotels.
"Unless we tackle childhood obesity at a multi-sectoral point we will get nowhere with it," she cautioned.
She regretted that now Ghana is beginning to see children diagnosed with type two diabetes, which years ago was limited to only adults, especially those whose fat level is so high .
Mrs. Atuahene mentioned genetics, diet, gender and pregnancy as some of the factors that contribute to diabetes.
"It is more common in women than men. Genetics has a role to play because sometimes it runs through the family. Stress indeed can add to the amount of fat."
She explained that children get diabetes when there is too much sugar in the blood and in the urine while there is not enough insulin to direct the glucose into the cells to give them the energy that they need to study, walk, talk and dance.
Consequently, she said they become very weak. Unfortunately, she said diabetes mellitus cannot be cured but can only be managed.
At the family level she stressed that food portions and contents should be controlled.
"It is important that we reduce the amount of fried foods that we consume. We need to cut down on egg, chicken skin etc because they add up to weight gain."
She continued, "Also look for ways to do some activity like walking and even washing your clothes."
Mrs. Atuahene called for sectoral collaboration between the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Ministry of Health and Education to ensure that physical activity becomes part of the curriculum if it is not.
"We can engage the media to find our way forward. We must extend our hand to fast food products even if it means training them to fight the disease by ensuring that the right ingredients are used in preparing food."
Further, she said that the school feeding programme should be closely monitored and weight monitoring in schools encouraged.
Recently, the Health Minister, Major Courage Quashigah (Rtd) at a health Symposium on the Prevalence of Obesity in Ghana noted that overweight and obesity, which were considered problems only in high -income countries, were dramatically on the rise in low and middle-income countries particularly in urban settings.
He urged Ghanaians to adopt his ministry's new paradigm of creating wealth through health, which placed emphasis on prevention, rather than curative healthy lifestyles and avoid acts that are detrimental to their lives.
He also suggested an intersectoral partnership among stakeholders in the health sector, control in the consumption of western diets and lifestyles that cause abdominal obesity, especially among women and to place the issue of overweight and obesity high on the national agenda as a way to stem the tide.
Other speakers admitted that obesity is a major health problem, which causes diseases like hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, and cancers and called for attitudinal change to turn the situation around.
Dr Maame Yaa Nyarko of Department of Child Health, University of Ghana Medical School, who spoke on "Obesity in Children", said obesity results in respiratory problems like asthma disorders in children and called for family involvement in the weight loss plan of the kids.
She said weight loss in children should not be drastic and suggested outdoor activities and a healthy diet to stem the tide.
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