Severe childhood health risks associated with obesity are cause for concern

By Ashton Daigle

Some pundits have said that, as a result of childhood obesity, the current generation in the United States may be the first that doesn’t have a longer life span than those that immediately proceeded it.

“It’s what some are saying, but I really, really hope it isn’t so,” Dr. William Wittert, MD, selected as a Chicago Top Doctor by TopTierMD as a top rated pediatrician in Chicago, says.

In addition to the severe health risks associated with childhood obesity, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, obstructive sleep apnea and orthopedic trouble, Dr. Wittert says that childhood obesity can be very destructive from an emotional standpoint.

“There have been studies performed that have actually concluded that obese children actually feel emotionally worse about themselves than do children with terminal cancer," Dr. Wittert says. "Childhood obesity is extremely devastating from an emotional point of view too.”

Dr. Wittert says that the problem of childhood obesity is largely environmental and not genetic. The problem, Dr. Wittert says, is also multi-factored.

“One of the main factors is a gradual increase in portion sizes,” Dr. Wittert says. “Not that fast food is the best example, but there was a time when you drove into a McDonald's or Burger King and you would get one size burger, a single serving of fries and a single-sized Coke. Nowadays, restaurants have really boosted the quantities of their servings. Our definitions of what used to constitute normal and reasonable have changed. It’s to the point now where even nutritionists argue over what constitutes a normal size portion.”

In addition to larger food portions, Dr. Wittert says that sociological changes, especially changes in structures of families and their work schedules, also contribute to the problem.

“It used to be in the 1950s and even in the 1960s that the number of meals eaten out at restaurants was extremely low,” Dr. Wittert says. “Going out to eat was usually a special outing to celebrate a holiday or other important date. Today, we have a society where most parents work nine to five and shuffle children from school to extracurricular activities. With these schedules, families just don’t take the time to prepare nutritious, portioned meals. As a result, the number of meals eaten out has sky-rocketed. It’s almost as if the exception has become the norm.”

In addition to these factors, Dr. Wittert says that overall activity levels have also significantly decreased over the years.

“When I was a kid, we played outside,” Dr. Wittert says. “We were either on our bikes, out playing ball or being engaged in some kind of physical activity. First there was the television. Then came the advent of electronic games. As a result, our children have now become a lot more sedentary.”

Treatment of childhood obesity, Dr. Wittert says, is highly individualized.

“I think management is really the key,” Dr. Wittert says. “First, I look at the habits of the individual. In some cases, the child may snack on junk food all day. In other cases, they don’t eat all day and then eat large portions late at night. The thing I try to do is pinpoint where the kids are going wrong in their habits. From that point, it’s really a matter of implementing small changes over time.”

Dr. William Wittert, MD, was selected by TopTierMD as a Chicago Top Doctor and is considered Best in Pediatrics in Chicago. He specializes in pediatric obesity, pediatric nutrition and pediatric behavioral disorders.