Leading Causes of Obesity During Childhood and Adolescence

The Center for Disease Control considers people between the ages of 2 and 18 to be diagnosed as overweight to be greater than 85 percentiles and obesity to be 95 percentiles or higher. Obesity is a metabolic disorder characterized by an increase in body fat, characterized by an increase in adipose tissue, a child is considered obese when his or her weight is greater than 20% of the ideal.

The complications that children suffering from obesity have in the short term are increased blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy, alterations in lipid metabolism, type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, respiratory, metabolic, orthopedic, dermatological problems, metabolic syndrome, cholecystitis, fatty liver, polycystic ovary syndrome, among others. The most important approach to the prevention of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, as well as creating awareness of short, medium and long-term lifestyle changes.