Obese children are likely to become obese adults: HPA

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





The likelihood of obese children growing up to be obese adults is more than 50 percent, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said, urging parents to help their children maintain a healthy weight.

A popular folk saying goes that obesity in children is not really obesity, but the HPA said the saying is not correct, because studies have suggested that between 42 and 63 percent of obese children grow up to become obese adults, and likelihood of obese adolescents becoming obese adults is even higher — between 70 and 80 percent.

HPA Chronic Disease Control Division official Chia Shu-li (賈淑麗) said statistics from the Ministry of Education showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among elementary-school students in Taiwan was 29 percent — 32.8 percent in boys and 24.9 percent in girls — in 2014. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among junior-high school students in the same year was 28.8 percent — 33.1 percent in boys and 24.2 percent in girls, she added.

As it will soon be summer vacation for most children and adolescents, some parents tend to keep beverages and snacks — often cakes, cookies or other desserts high in sugar and calories — in the refrigerator, or tell their children to eat out by themselves while they are at work, but these practices may cause children to become obese, the agency said.

“Obesity in children can increase the risks of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” Chia said, suggesting that parents keep sugarless tea, low-sugar and low-fat snacks or fruit in the refrigerator for their children, so that they can form healthy eating habits from childhood.

The HPA said starting on July 1, a total of 85 weight reduction classes or activities (www.goo.gl/UsSxwH), including nutrition tips, cooking classes, exercise sessions, are to be held at 82 hospitals across the nation, for children and adolescents (aged between six and 17) to sign up. People who have problems eating healthy, exercising or controlling their weight control can call the HPA’s toll-free consultation number, 0800-367-100, for professional advice, it added.