Parents who think their fat and chubby children are healthy and cute may have to change their thoughts as an obesity epidemic is growing across the country, threatening poor and rich families alike.
Cases of obesity among Indonesian children have spiked more than two-fold in the last three decades.
The latest data from the Health Ministry show the prevalence of obesity among children between the ages of six and 14 was 9.5 percent among boys and 6.4 percent among girls in 2007.
These figures are much higher than 4 percent recorded in 1990.
Health experts believe poor diet, a lack of physical activities and environmental factors that influence an unhealthy lifestyle are all responsible for the increased obesity rate among children.
“Nowadays, children eat junk food, cakes and other high sugar food and beverages, cheese and milk in excess.
“Therefore, parents should carefully monitor their children’s diets,” nutritionist Samuel Oetoro told The Jakarta Post recently.
Samuel pointed out one major factor that contributes to increased cases of obesity in the country: parental ignorance.
“Most parents here think that fat means cute. They don’t see [obesity] as problem,” says pediatrician Aman B. Pulungan, who is also president of the Asia Pacific Paediatric Endocrine Society.
Research conducted at 15 schools in Yogyakarta revealed that 35 percent of parents do not consider their children having weight problems.
The research carried out by pediatrician Madarina Julia from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta also showed a rising trend of obesity cases among school-aged children in Yogyakarta from 4 percent in 1999 to 8 percent in 2004 and 10 percent in 2007 was mostly due to the parents’ lack of awareness of
the disease.
Another interesting result of the research shows that obesity was not only prevalent in urban communities, but also among rural families, showing that economic factors may not be as relevant to obesity rates, as generally assumed.
According to Aman, the parental ignorance stems from the belief that obesity is only an issue related to a person’s looks and not a medical problem.
“They think that the problem will disappear when their child grows up,” he said.
However, a report on obesity by the World Health Organization (WHO) says overweight and obese children are likely to stay obese into adulthood and more likely to develop diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Approximately 2.6 million people die around the world each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
Aman pointed out similar patterns were also expected to emerge in Indonesia as the ages of children suffering from various obesity related diseases were getting younger every year.
“I see patients dealing with obesity on an almost daily basis and now you can find children as young as 10 with diabetes,” Aman says.
Aside from raising parental awareness and changing children’s lifestyles, the best way to deal with obesity problems is by involving the government, according to Aman.
The government’s support in policy making is needed to push changes in the way people live.
The government can make policies that enforce schools to pay attention to children’s diets and provide playgrounds and classes that encourage more physical activity.
A number of countries such as Singapore, the UK, the US and Australia that face serious obesity problems have issued such regulations as a preventative measure against increasing rates of obesity.
The measures, in turn, aim to ensure the disease does not become too much of a burden on their health systems and economies.
WHO reports obesity will be responsible for about two thirds of global disease-related expenditure by 2020.
The US alone spends around US$150 million on obesity related diseases each year.
Indonesia, which will see an increase in patients suffering diseases stemming from obesity from 8.4 million in 2000 to 21.3 million in 2030, is expected to face similar economic burdens in the coming years. (not)
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