Obesity strikes 15 pc Colombo schoolchildren
Manjula Fernando
An alarming 15 per cent of children in Colombo schools suffer from
obesity, a situation almost similar to that of Western countries, Dr.
Harns Pathirage, a Consultant Physician attached to the Panadura Base
Hospital said.
He said the main cause for this, which should be attributed to
parents’ negligence, is the children’s addiction to fast food and soft
drinks.
Obesity in children leads to many short and long term effects. Short
term effects include physical problems such as pains in the joint, back
and hip as well as exercise in-tolerance where the child will try to
keep away from outdoor activities which are essential to mould his
leadership qualities.
Obesity can also lead to lethargy, a factor which impairs the overall
performance of a student in school.
Among the more acute long term effects are increase in the chances of
bad cholesterol levels, blood sugar and high blood pressure.
Parents complain that children don’t like to eat nutritious food. Dr
Pathirage said this is a lame excuse proven wrong.
“It’s not true; you must introduce nutritious food at a tender age.
Variety is the secret”. He stressed that fast food should never
compliment the meals of very young children.
“Generally children are reluctant to try new food. It is the parents
who first get them to ‘have a go’ at junk food. Later they complain at
this hard to undo mistake,” he said.
Among the other contributors to child obesity are irregular meals and
excessive fat and carbohydrate contents in the meal. Parents must also
ensure a set a time, at least for the main meals and try to abide by
this.
Dr. Pathirage said fast food and soft drinks contain a lot of
artificial agents like taste enhancers, emulsifiers, coloring and
preservatives, etc as well as added sugar and salt, and high fat and
carbohydrate contents. “These are all the perfect ingredients for
growing up children to become sick adults.”
He stressed it was best to stick to Sri Lankan fruits, rather than
opting for imported and impressive foreign ‘stuff’, that has been
chemically treated to stay fresh ‘forever’. “Fresh fruit juices and home
made meals are ideal for your child’s health,” Dr Pathirage said.
According to him it can be a home made ‘club sandwich’, not always kola
kenda or red rice and curry.
Dr. Pathirage was speaking at a meeting attended by parents of
primary students of the Musaeus College, Colombo recently.
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