As cases of obesity among adolescents show an alarming rise, a new clinic in Mumbai tries to gauge how and why young people are falling prey to this lifestyle condition
Even as Mumbai’s northern neighbour Palghar struggles with malnutrition deaths, the megapolis is suffering from a serious health concern resulting from malnutrition of the other kind. Obesity, especially among Mumbai’s adolescents, is silently acquiring epidemic proportions if statistics are anything to go by.
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Dr BS Avasthi
Dr Jayashree Todkar, secretary, Obesity Surgery Society of India and director of JT Obesity Solutions in Pune, has been seeing a steady rise in the number of obese individuals in her practice, but as more and more adolescents started showing up at her clinic, it became a disturbing trend that she could no longer ignore. “When we surveyed 6,000 school-going children aged between 13 and 15 years in Pune and Mumbai, the results were alarming. We found that 18 percent of the kids were obese, 32 percent were overweight and 52 percent were pre-diabetics,” says Dr Todkar.
Purwa Duggal
Armed with these statistics and the fact that children are physiologically best suited to overcome obesity, Dr Todkar recently collaborated with Mumbai’s Surya Hospital to set up an obesity clinic in the city dedicated specifically to adolescents and women.
What ails the young?
“Our lifestyle has changed entirely. There is a severe lack of physical activity along with ready access to high-calorie foods. And this change is affecting the entire family. Also, when one generation is obese, the likelihood of the next generation turning out obese becomes higher due to genetic factors,” explains Dr BS Avasthi, chief paediatrician at the obesity clinic in Surya Hospital. “Add to this the fact that in India, childhood or adolescent obesity is still looked at through the lens of chubbiness, which is considered cute, not worrisome,” he adds.
Dr Jayashree Todkar
“Stressed kids today are running from class to class, which results in a lot of comfort eating. And in the little time that remains, many of them are glued to screens,” says Dr Dayal Mirchandani, a city-based consulting psychiatrist and author. “All our social gatherings happen around food, too, and it’s seldom the healthy kind,” he reasons.
Take the case of 11-year-old Harsh Chaudhary. His anxious parents approached Dr Todkar eight months ago when he started avoiding his friends and became withdrawn overall. “The kid weighed 62 kgs when I first saw him, which was about 25 kgs more than his ideal weight. A battery of tests revealed that Harsh had several vital deficiencies like iron and vitamins B12 and D. He also had higher insulin levels, which meant he was a pre-diabetic,” she shares.
The fallouts
“Obesity is an invitation to several diseases and is a burden to the body. And when it affects individuals at such a young age, it impairs bone, muscle and organ growth, which has long-term consequences,” explains Dr Todkar.
“While other childhood diseases like measles, chicken pox and mumps have been brought under control, obesity has dangerously taken their place. Obese children feel fatigued all the time and often complain of breathlessness,” says Dr Avasthi. “And because these are children, there is teasing involved that causes a dent in the self-esteem,” he adds.
Dr Mirchandani once came across a 14-year-old, who was a good swimmer but had remained completely inactive during her exams and as a result, she had piled on a few kilos. “The girl refused to jump into the pool because she was embarrassed about the way she looked,” shares Dr Mirchandani. “Stressed and overweight or obese girls are also at the risk of developing poly-cystic ovarian disorder that further results in weight gain and manifests itself through facial hair, acne or irregular periods,” he adds.
Then, there’s the other extreme, where teenagers with body-image issues take to crash dieting and become anorexic, bulimic or both, which severely affects their overall health parameters.
The way out
Given the genetic nature of obesity and how the overall attitude of a family towards health impacts the child, it’s important that this problem is not targeted in isolation.
Dr Mirchandani adds that exercise and healthy eating cannot come with exceptions. “During exams, too, parents should ensure children take active breaks. It’s a good stress buster and facilitates better sleep, which helps in memory consolidation,” he says.
“Eating right from an early age is vital for good health. Diet, during formative years, should include complex carbs, proteins, essential fats, iron, calcium, Vitamin A, C and D. Also, parents need to be the role models, and schools must play an important supporting role,” says Purwa Duggal, head nutritionist at Mulund’s Fortis Healthcare.
It took a family-centric approach to help young Harsh. Dr Todkar had to convince his parents that it was as crucial for Harsh to take up a sport as doing well in academics. Next up were the grandparents, who had to be told that feeding glucose biscuits wasn’t the only way to dote on the child. The family’s kitchen underwent a makeover, where soft drinks and chocolates have no place any more. The result? With exercise and nutritious food woven into his day, Harsh has already lost 12 kgs and is on a steady road to achieving his ideal weight.
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