Childhood obesity increased in Hyderabad

Hyderabad January 28: Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries. Overweight and obesity in childhood are known to have the significant impact on both physical and psychological health.

The mechanism of obesity development is not fully understood and it is believed to be a disorder with multiple causes.

Environmental factors, lifestyle preferences, and cultural environment play pivotal roles in the rising prevalence of obesity worldwide. In general, overweight and obesity are assumed to be the results of an increase in caloric and fat intake.

The city, which is considered among the top food destinations, also has the most overweight boys in the country, a recent study has revealed. A whopping 39.16% school boys in Hyderabad's private schools aged between 7 and 17 years top the country when it comes to unhealthy Body Mass Index (BMI) - a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

The '7th Annual Health and Fitness Study' conducted by EduSports was carried with a sample size involving 1,69,932 children in the age group of 7 to 17 years in 326 schools across 86 cities in 26 states.

"The ideal BMI for children in the age-group of 7-17 is in the range of 15 to 22 and it keeps varying as their bodies develop rapidly in that age group. Higher BMI indicates that the child has a high amount of body fat," said Saumil Majmudar, co-founder and MD at EduSports, while advocating the need for children to stay fit only by playing sports.

In terms of unhealthy BMI, Kolkata boys came in next with 37.17% boys having unhealthy BMI, followed by Mumbai with 35.81%, New Delhi with 35.17%, Chennai with 34.16% and the last and healthiest were from Bengaluru with only 33.72% having weight issues.

In contrast, Hyderabadi school girls were comparatively healthy with only 25.6% girls found to have BMI beyond 24.9.

The high BMI could be indicative of multiple factors, as experts are not una nimous on one particular factor. "Off late, there has been an epidemic of obesity in children and it is extremely important that children indulge in physical activity.

Ideally, for obese children some low impact activities like swimming, cycling, yoga are appropriate in order to avoid strain on their knees because of weight.