EULALEE THOMPSON
CHILDREN IN Jamaica are getting fatter. This is not based on hearsay or anecdotes; the data is available to back the statement. Researchers at the Tropical Medicine Research Institute (TMRI), University of the West Indies (UWI) have been monitoring trends in children's weight; in 1966, the average weight of a six-year-old child was 19.5 kg (Aschroft and Lovell, 1966), 30 years later, 1999, a six-year-old child weighs between 21.9 and 23.2 kg (Wilks et al, 1999).
On average, children age six to 10 years in 1999 were between five and six pounds fatter than children of the same age in 1966; and children 11 to 15 years old in 1999 were between eight and 10 pounds fatter than children of the same age in 1966 (see table at right).
Another local study, The 1986 Jamaica Birth Cohort (Ashley et al, 1994; Jackson et al, 2002), found that in the 1990s, 19 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds were either overweight or obese.
"We have attributed these changes in childhood obesity to changing diet (increased caloric intake) and reduced physical activity," said Dr. Marshall Tulloch-Reid, endocrinologist and epidemiologist at TMRI's Epidemiology Research Unit. "In addition, there may be other factors that are involved such as genetics or early life influences including intrauterine factors."
INTRAUTERINE FACTORS
The intrauterine factors, that is, influences on the child's weight profile from he or she is in the womb, has been the subject of much research. Dr. Tulloch-Reid, for example, referred to studies of the Pima Indians of Arizona (a population with the highest incidence of type 2 diabetes).
"Diabetes in pregnancy was found to increase the risk of obesity in childhood. Also, not breastfeeding increased the risk of obesity in those children," he said.
This trend in childhood obesity is not unique to Jamaica. The World Heart Federation states that childhood obesity is growing in epidemic proportions; about 22 million children under 5 years are obese and many more are overweight across the world; in the U.S., the percentage of obese children, age six to 11, has more than doubled since the 1960s and in the 12 to 19 age group, the prevalence of obesity has moved from five per cent to 15 per cent between the 1960s and 2000.
FAT IS NOT CUTE
Have you ever overheard this 'compliment' - "What a way you looking fat and rosy." It's probably part of the Jamaican cultural script to link 'fat' with health and well-being but all the latest studies say 'fat' is really not cute; fat children, the World Heart Federation indicates, are at risk of developing many of the chronic lifestyle diseases:
Obese children are at about a three-fold higher risk for hypertension than non-obese children.
Cohort studies show that obesity can be tracked from childhood to adulthood, where morbidity is very evident.
Obesity in adolescents is directly associated with increased morbidity and mortality in adult life, independent of adult body weight.
The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is linked to the increasing prevalence of obesity. A new trend has been noted of increasing cases of type 2 diabetes in children worldwide, with some as young as eight years of age being affected.
Dr. Tulloch-Reid said that the next phase of the 1986 Jamaica Birth Cohort study will measure the relationship between obesity and blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose in Jamaican children.
A recent study in the British Medical Journal point to some red flags that could increase the risk of obesity in children by age seven:
Parental obesity.
Higher birth weight.
Spending more than eight hours watching TV when three years old.
Sleeping less than 10.5 hours per night when three years old.
Size in early life.
Rapid weight gain in the first year of life.
Rapid catch-up growth between birth and two years.
Early development of body fatness in the pre-school years.
You can send your comments to eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com.
