Obesity and teenage girls

Obesity in teenagers is increasing with girls being affected more by it than boys. Almost 75 per cent of obese teens grow as obese adults.

Because of changing lifestyle and eating habits among children, obesity is impacting their overall physical and mental health.

Obese teenager girls are likely to get a disorder called as PCOS/PCOD, which is a hormonal disorder and it causes hirsutism, acne and infertility.

In addition, these girls are nine times more likely to get cardiac disease in later life. They are also at increased risk of getting hypertension and diabetes.

Overweight teenage girls are also more likely to have low self-esteem and negative body image, which may affect their life socially and mentally.

Parents should be aware that they are prone to get anxiety and depression as well. Obese teen girls also suffer from early puberty and menarche (start of first menstrual cycle).

Even a reduction of 10 per cent of weight can decrease chances of getting hypertension and cardiac disease and also save a person from getting gall stones, hypercholesterolemia, pancreatitis and other obesity related disorders.

For girls, it may prove a boon to start family as it helps reducing insulin resistance and helps in her ovulation.

Teens are consuming high calorie foods but getting less nourishment. Adequate nutrition during adolescence is particularly important because of rapid growth during this phase of life. They gain 50 per cent of their adult weight and bone mass during this decade of life. Dietary habits during adolescence have a long-term influence on their health.

The most effective way to decrease obesity is healthy lifestyle, diet changes and exercising regularly. So parents please pay attention to your child’s obesity.

By:Dr Vimee Bindra Basu

(The author is Consultant Gynecologist and Obstetrician Laparoscopic Surgeon; Infertility Specialist at Apollo Health City in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad)