Education Guide

After talking to the pediatrician Claudio Leone, head of the Department of Maternal and Child Health School of Public Health of USP, and hear that the life expectancy of an obese child may decline in 10 years for their non-obese generation, reinforced the idea that the matter should be constant here on the blog.

A sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition are increasing rates of obesity among Brazilian children. Boys and girls are getting fatter than expected because they play less and eating more junk. The pediatrician Claudio Leone pointed out that children need good eating habits and physical activity to have a long and healthy life.

Childhood obesity is the seed of serious health problems that will appear in adulthood. Boys and girls who are overweight are more likely to develop diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol changes. Furthermore, they may suffer an early heart attack or stroke.

“This generation that is obese, there is a shortening of life, probably will die some 10 years earlier on average than the average of the general population is not obese. Besides all these complications, surely, is nothing contemptible: the person has diabetes very early, have a heart attack too young, too young to have a stroke, have to control your cholesterol, your salt and your blood pressure for the rest of Life is not an easy condition. The risk of all this would occur if there was not much reduced childhood obesity “He said.

The rise in obesity in the child population in Brazil is easy to understand. Just look around in any cluster of people, to find a large number of chubby children. I’m shocked to see an obese child, and obese, riding a bicycle in a park with a bag of chips in hand. As you pedal, lose your balance reaches to grab a handful and put that poison in your mouth. I wonder who will help this child? And when?

Scary Numbers
More than an impression, this was the reality shown by the Consumer Expenditure Survey 2008-2009, conducted by IBGE in partnership with the Ministry of Health, released in August. The result was alarming: one in three children aged 5 to 9 years were overweight recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The national survey revealed that overweight and obesity are found more frequently from five years, but suffered by children of all ages, of both genders, all income groups, from all regions of the country and urban and rural areas.

Psychosocial problems
Boys and girls have self-esteem drop because of excess weight and have difficulties in relationships. They suffer when they are called fat and are victims of cruel jokes from other children. The pediatrician Claudio Leone said the psychological and social damage of childhood obesity are the first problems to emerge.

“It takes, sometimes, the individual to have a decrease in self-esteem. This therefore is a psychosocial problem. He tends to withdraw, it was not active, is less active still, and begins a vicious cycle: less activity, is more fat, low esteem, he tries to meet this need he has to feed, and then the thing complicates ” said

Protection starts with breastfeeding
The head of the Department of Maternal and Child Health School of Public Health of USP said the first step to contain the spread of obesity among children in Brazil is improving breastfeeding in the country

The baby should be fed only breast milk until six months. During the first half, no water should be taken, the chest because he receives everything it needs to grow healthy. Breastfeeding correct and proper introduction of new foods from six months are critical for good child development. It is at this very beginning of life that create eating habits.

The pediatrician said the mother unable to breastfeed, an important precaution is not to offer whole cow milk before the baby is one year. The bottle must be made with milk-based formulas available.

These formulas are prepared and appropriate to have a process of digestion and assimilation as close to breastfeeding without the risks of allergies and intolerance to cow’s milk can lead to full. “Cow’s milk is very good for the calf,” he said.

Six months to one year, other foods should gradually be introduced to complement the food. Preferably, herbs, fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, meats, eggs, everything tends to be part of a good home cooking.

The great villains
During the conversation, the doctor made it very clear the need for restriction of sweets, soft drinks and fast food, widely consumed by children of all ages, unfortunately, more and more new.

In addition to preventing abuse in the consumption of candy, chewing gum, lollipops, chocolates and soft drinks throughout life, parents should not offer these products to very young children. For Claudio Leone, the coolant should be “forbidden” by two years of age and sweets should not be part of the diet in early childhood because the child gain the taste of food rather salty.

“It is always better than a fruit, for example, a sweet. Avoid soft drinks to the maximum of two years of age. In fact, should be avoided, but the first two years should be prohibited, including. It is a period that many habits are created. The palate is accustomed to much more easily than the sweet salty taste, “said

Juice box, a trap
The pediatrician also condemned Claudio Leone excess juices offered to children, especially the industrialized world. According to him, the best to moisturize your child is water.

“It needs very careful with fruit juices. The natural fruit juice is good, but not too much. Now, these industrialized fruit juices must be viewed with some limitations because many of them are also enriched with sugar or fruit are spared reconstituted and therefore do not have the composition of a natural fruit juice. So, this should also be another caution, “he said.

What is excess?
The power with excess fat, salt and sugar and childhood obesity increases the risk of many diseases. In evaluating Claudio Leone, a burger or a pizza once in a while does no harm to health, but this kind of food all final a week is too many. He also believes that eating french fries every day is a problem, but once a week or a fortnight can be absolutely normal.

“Eating a burger or something like that once a month will not do harm to any child. What happens is that there is a tendency for it to become almost routine in a child’s life. I think once or twice a month is perfectly acceptable, “he said.

The pediatrician criticized the attitude of adults with children who repeat the excesses that often make when they feed. And he condemned the habit of children to watch television with a bag of chips in hand. He said this is a way for a palate accustomed to excess salt, a habit that will eventually be uploaded to the rest of his life.

Portions exaggerated
The head of the Department of Maternal and Child Health School of Public Health of USP gave tips on the correct amount of food for each age group. According to him, the adult usually figure out what the child should eat based on what he eats and that is wrong. Exaggeration early in life a person accustomed to large portions.

According to him, contrary to what most mothers do, which is to require that the child eat everything on their plate, ideally, let the child be a little bit of food. This is a demonstration that she ate what she needed.

“What is important is from the beginning to let the child eat what she wants. It is very difficult to accept that a mother’s son leave food on your plate. But it is preparing a large portion, it will only eat what they need. Without force, without appeal, without offering snacks, soft drinks without offering without offering candy and everything else, the child learns to self-regulate their intake, and it hardly will eat more than you should eat. So, it is always preferable that children learn to leave something on the plate, “he said.

The child is born with the capacity to self-regulate appetite and increases the amount of food as needed by the body. When the mother realize that the child is cleaning his plate, it is because he grew up and it’s time to increase the portion.

Teaching at the right time
The pediatrician Claudio Leone explained that parents need to enjoy some quality time to teach children to eat fruits, vegetables, fish and other foods that many boys and girls tend to reject.

He said the best is to start the second half of life, when foods are introduced into the child’s diet until the end of the second year. After that, the third to fifth years of life, not help “break the head” why the child is not interested in food and is not a good time to improve eating habits.

Who lost the opportunity early in life there is a new chance at the start of school. The pediatrician said that around 6 years of age the child back to have interest in food and this is a good time for a re-education process food.