CTV.ca News Staff
A new study shows that Canada's obesity epidemic is getting bigger. The research found that more than one quarter of kids aged three to five years old in Newfoundland and Labrador are overweight or obese.
"It is a serious problem if you have over 25 per cent of young children overweight," Dr. Patricia Canning, one of the study's authors, told NTV News in St. John's.
"Even the youngest children who were three and a half, were also found to be significantly overweight or obese -- 26 per cent of them as well. So that's a pretty serious thing."
Canning and her study partners collected height and weight information from more than 4,000 children. They used information gathered by nurses as part of a screening program.
Canning calculated body mass index values by comparing adult BMI figures. For example, a four-year-old boy who has a BMI of 17.55 would be comparable with an adult with a BMI of 25.
Of the children surveyed in the study, 18 per cent were overweight, while eight per cent were obese. The study is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Canning says the kids' weight problems will seriously affect their health.
"We are seeing children as young as eight years of age being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, which at one time was called 'Adult onset.' Now it's in eight year olds -- certainly not adult onset anymore," says Canning.
"And they have other kinds of problems that are indicative of later heart disease. They have high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels. It's a serious problem."
She says one of the problems is that parents simply don't recognize when their own children are overweight.
"If you have a four-year-old and you have 10 four-year-olds on your street who look exactly the same, then you won't think your child is overweight, because they're all overweight."
Canning suggests parents get their kids moving and stop feeding them sugary, high-fat foods. But Glendora Boland, a dietitian with health and community services in the St. John's region, says it's not always that easy.
"It's rather sad, but it's cheaper to buy two litres of pop than it is to buy two litres of milk," she says. "And we all know that milk builds strong, healthy bones and that we need fruits and vegetables for our children to be healthy. But potato chips are cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. It's difficult for families to make those purchases."
Even though rates of being overweight or obese tend to be higher in the Atlantic provinces, experts say the results should be a wake-up call for the rest of the country.
In fact, studies show that rates of overweight and obese children have doubled in every province since 1981.