Obesity in Qatar (Essay Sample)

Childrеn Physiсаl Асtivity and Оbеsity in Qatar
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The fast developing countries in the world are faced with a great problem. The problem, although may appear to have far-fetched evidence is real. It is related to the reduced levels of children physical activity in these countries. The escalating rates of obesity and overweight in the developing countries in the last twenty-five years has been alarming. The trend, previously witnessed in the developed nations such as United States and Britain before the last quarter of the twentieth century is now evidence in the developing countries. The most alarming revelation in countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arabs Emirates and Qatar is that the rates of overweight is even more pronounced in school going children. Worth noting is that twenty years ago, the rate of obesity in this region was almost negligible ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1210/jc.2004-1389", "ISSN" : "0021-972X", "PMID" : "15598688", "abstract" : "In March 2004 a group of 65 physicians and other health professionals representing nine countries on four continents convened in Israel to discuss the widespread public health crisis in childhood obesity. Their aim was to explore the available evidence and develop a consensus on the way forward. The process was rigorous, although time and resources did not permit the development of formal evidence-based guidelines. In the months before meeting, participants were allocated to seven groups covering prevalence, causes, risks, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and psychology. Through electronic communication each group selected the key issues for their area, searched the literature, and developed a draft document. Over the 3-d meeting, these papers were debated and finalized by each group before presenting to the full group for further discussion and agreement. In developing a consensus statement, this international group has presented the evidence, developed recommendations, and provided a platform aimed toward future corrective action and ongoing debate in the international community.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Speiser", "given" : "Phyllis W", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Rudolf", "given" : "Mary C J", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Anhalt", "given" : "Henry", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Camacho-Hubner", "given" : "Cecilia", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Chiarelli", "given" : "Francesco", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Eliakim", "given" : "Alon", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Freemark", "given" : "Michael", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Gruters", "given" : "Annette", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Hershkovitz", "given" : "Eli", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Iughetti", "given" : "Lorenzo", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Krude", "given" : "Heiko", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Latzer", "given" : "Yael", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Lustig", "given" : "Robert H", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Pescovitz", "given" : "Ora Hirsch", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Pinhas-Hamiel", "given" : "Orit", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Rogol", "given" : "Alan D", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Shalitin", "given" : "Shlomit", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Sultan", "given" : "Charles", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Stein", "given" : "Daniel", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Vardi", "given" : "Pnina", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Werther", "given" : "George A", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Zadik", "given" : "Zvi", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Zuckerman-Levin", "given" : "Nehama", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Hochberg", "given" : "Zeev", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2005" ] ] }, "page" : "1871-1887", "title" : "Childhood obesity.", "type" : "paper-conference", "volume" : "90" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=8942db73-44d9-4021-b16e-f1293b70a6ec" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Speiser et al. 2005)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Speiser et al. 2005 pp. 1871–1887.).
The World Health Organization has regarded childhood overweight and obesity as an emerging issue in health and fitness. According to the available statistics, about 10% of the school-going children in Middle East are obese. The contributing factors for childhood obesity have been identified as binge eating and junk fast foods and lack of enough physical exercise to get rid of the excess calories that accumulate with the foods. From research evidence, unhealthy weight and childhood obesity can track into later childhood, early adulthood and even in the middle-ages ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60171-7", "ISBN" : "1474-547X (Electronic)\\n0140-6736 (Linking)", "ISSN" : "1474-547X", "PMID" : "20451244", "abstract" : "Worldwide prevalence of childhood obesity has increased greatly during the past three decades. The increasing occurrence in children of disorders such as type 2 diabetes is believed to be a consequence of this obesity epidemic. Much progress has been made in understanding of the genetics and physiology of appetite control and from these advances, elucidation of the causes of some rare obesity syndromes. However, these rare disorders have so far taught us few lessons about prevention or reversal of obesity in most children. Calorie intake and activity recommendations need reassessment and improved quantification at a population level because of sedentary lifestyles of children nowadays. For individual treatment, currently recommended calorie prescriptions might be too conservative in view of evolving insight into the so-called energy gap. Although quality of research into both prevention and treatment has improved, high-quality multicentre trials with long-term follow-up are needed. Meanwhile, prevention and treatment approaches to increase energy expenditure and decrease intake should continue. Recent data suggest that the spiralling increase in childhood obesity prevalence might be abating; increased efforts should be made on all fronts to continue this potentially exciting trend.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Han", "given" : "Joan C", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Lawlor", "given" : "Debbie A", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kimm", "given" : "Sue Y S", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Lancet", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2010" ] ] }, "page" : "1737-1748", "title" : "Childhood obesity.", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "375" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=c2aa3b92-b422-4a42-966f-9df292682531" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Han et al. 2010)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Han et al. 2010 pp.1737–1748.). This means that a child who is obese and lacks physical exercise is at a higher risk of chronic lifestyle diseases late in life.
International epidemic of childhood obesity
Current epidemiological research on childhood obesity has made cross-sectional prevalence of the issue and come up with alarming statistics. Globally, the rates of childhood obesity have increased three-fold in the last decade ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1046/j.1467-789X.2003.00093.x", "ISBN" : "1467788120", "ISSN" : "14677881", "PMID" : "12608527", "abstract" : "In contrast to other threats to American children's health, the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity are consid...