4 ms·

Overweight/obesity of 5-11 yr olds increased from 36% to 45% during the pandemic

33 points by CryptoPunk 5y ago

anchpop 5y ago
If this is true, I think it’s bad news for the environmental contamination models of obesity that have been growing popular recently.
- nradov 5y ago
  No expert ever seriously claimed that environmental contamination is the sole cause of the obesity pandemic. It's understood to be a multifactorial problem. While this isn't really proven yet I do suspect that widespread ingestion of endocrine disruptor chemicals such as phthalates (plastic softeners) is one of several root causes. Average phthalate levels have been rising for years, we know they reduce testosterone, and we also have data to show that average testosterone levels have been falling. Low T causes growth of adipose tissue.
Subsentient 5y ago
All I'm gonna say is that as far as problems go, this one isn't so bad. I wonder what percentage of those kids were already nearing obesity. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that having kids with a little extra chönk isn't that big of an issue.
- m_ke 5y ago
  It's a lot harder to reverse obesity than prevent it. Most of these kids will grow up to be obese and deal with the health issues that come with it for the rest of their lives.
- nradov 5y ago
  CDC researchers have found that obesity triples the risk of hospitalization for children with COVID-19. The absolute risk is still low but still it needs to be taken seriously. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780706 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle...
nicbou 5y ago
Could it be that the restrictions made regular exercise more difficult for children? I remember reading a lot about parents struggling without parks, schools or kindergartens. Even as an adult, I didn't get to move much until it got warm enough to cycle. Passive exercise like walking to places was completely gone for a few months. Even when I could cycle, I had nowhere to go.
- m_ke 5y ago
  From the few headlines that I saw snack food consumption went up a ton due to the pandemic. Being at home all day and having the fridge a few steps away must have been hard for most of us. COVID 15 is a real thing: https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/04/21/weight-gain https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/04/21/weight...
  - nicbou 5y ago
    That's interesting. I would have thought the opposite, since people would likely eat more home-cooked food, especially for lunch. On the other hand, I baked so many cakes that I had to stop myself for health reasons.
    - doubled112 5y ago
      It was the opposite for me. I ended up losing some pounds over pandemic. Nothing major, but enough that people who hadn't seen me in a while told me I looked like I was. I definitely eat better at home. Also, I wonder how much of it was the daily XL double double from Tim Hortons at 30g of sugar. Plus we often used to go grab another at lunch as a group. 60g sugar/day. Hadn't eaten food yet. Yikes! Frankly, the sweetness in foods that aren't meant to be sweet is incredible. Since I've started working at home and brewing my own, I can barely get through one. Once you cut some of it out you start to notice it more.
- culopatin 5y ago
  Take a moment next time you go to the store and look at the kind of products parents have available for kids. All super processed sugary colorful crap. Add some effective advertising, parents that are giving in to the kids request out of exhaustion, the kid gets hooked on the super sugary thing and wants it more, so next time they’ll whine even more, and the ball grows to a cart full of plasticky colorful sugary things. Some parents are better than others, usually if you see TV dinners you’ll see garbage food. But even the good ones that get some spinach or stuff to cook with your own hands cave in and buy some kid oriented sweet thing. And I know it’s hard, my girlfriends 11yo stepbrother stayed with us for two weeks and all he wanted to eat were Takis and ice cream. They also get creative with how they eat to always leave room for the crappy food, so you can’t really fill them up with salad to avoid it. Kids are tough on their own, but the market of food tailored for them is made for making money at the expense of addiction and obesity.
MiddleEndian 5y ago
Only minor changes are needed to make weight gain. Consider one extra soda per day (150 Calories per day) and a bit less walking around (walking a mile for an adult is about 100 Calories, those kids are smaller but probably used to walk more going from class to class at school, so let's put it at 100 Calories). 250 Calories x 30 days in a month = 7500 extra Calories a month. 3500 Calories is about a pound of fat, so that's roughly an extra 2 pounds a month, or 24 lbs per year, assuming their exercise and food consumption otherwise stays the same as it would have. Throw in another extra snack or something, they could reach an extra 36 lbs in a year. Easy to see how it adds up. Also adds up for adults.
- gizmo686 5y ago
  A large egg is 78 calories. Over the course of a year a single egg per day adds up to 8 lbls. However, many people are able to maintain a remarcably consistent weight without thinking about it. This suggests that humans have an innate ability to regulate body weight. The obesity epidemic can't be explained by a simple calorie analysis; it needs to account for why our innate ability to regulate body weight isn't working. At this point, I think it is pretty well established that added sugar is a significant culprit, so focusing on soda is still probably reasonable.
  - fragmede 5y ago
    Humans have an innate ability to eat until they're full. However, due to food choices, the amount of calories eaten before feeling sated can be highly variable. Modern processed food is far more calorie dense than our bodies "fullness" sensors are able to process, like a laser pointer with a cat. Some cats can't help themselves and lose their shit over them. Others can't be bothered.
mensetmanusman 5y ago
One thing I didn’t realize we did differently than other parents of 2-4 y/o’s is to order the food presented by ‘yuckiest’ to ‘yumiest’. E.g. salad/veggies first, then starch/protein, then fruit, then dessert. If they refuse to eat at any stage, we show them the dessert that they would get if they continued. We learned that they will eventually eat a small salad with training (for every dinner) and it eventually becomes second nature. Small children are like pets, if you let them make the decision, then they will eat what they want until they get sick. If you provide a smaller subset of healthy choices, they learn to make better choices as a consequence.

33 points by CryptoPunk 5y ago

If this is true, I think it’s bad news for the environmental contamination models of obesity that have been growing popular recently.

nradov 5y ago
No expert ever seriously claimed that environmental contamination is the sole cause of the obesity pandemic. It's understood to be a multifactorial problem. While this isn't really proven yet I do suspect that widespread ingestion of endocrine disruptor chemicals such as phthalates (plastic softeners) is one of several root causes. Average phthalate levels have been rising for years, we know they reduce testosterone, and we also have data to show that average testosterone levels have been falling. Low T causes growth of adipose tissue.

Subsentient 5y ago

All I'm gonna say is that as far as problems go, this one isn't so bad. I wonder what percentage of those kids were already nearing obesity. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that having kids with a little extra chönk isn't that big of an issue.

m_ke 5y ago
It's a lot harder to reverse obesity than prevent it. Most of these kids will grow up to be obese and deal with the health issues that come with it for the rest of their lives.
nradov 5y ago
CDC researchers have found that obesity triples the risk of hospitalization for children with COVID-19. The absolute risk is still low but still it needs to be taken seriously. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780706 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle...

nicbou 5y ago

Could it be that the restrictions made regular exercise more difficult for children? I remember reading a lot about parents struggling without parks, schools or kindergartens. Even as an adult, I didn't get to move much until it got warm enough to cycle. Passive exercise like walking to places was completely gone for a few months. Even when I could cycle, I had nowhere to go.

m_ke 5y ago
From the few headlines that I saw snack food consumption went up a ton due to the pandemic. Being at home all day and having the fridge a few steps away must have been hard for most of us. COVID 15 is a real thing: https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/04/21/weight-gain https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/04/21/weight...
- nicbou 5y ago
  That's interesting. I would have thought the opposite, since people would likely eat more home-cooked food, especially for lunch. On the other hand, I baked so many cakes that I had to stop myself for health reasons.
  - doubled112 5y ago
    It was the opposite for me. I ended up losing some pounds over pandemic. Nothing major, but enough that people who hadn't seen me in a while told me I looked like I was. I definitely eat better at home. Also, I wonder how much of it was the daily XL double double from Tim Hortons at 30g of sugar. Plus we often used to go grab another at lunch as a group. 60g sugar/day. Hadn't eaten food yet. Yikes! Frankly, the sweetness in foods that aren't meant to be sweet is incredible. Since I've started working at home and brewing my own, I can barely get through one. Once you cut some of it out you start to notice it more.
culopatin 5y ago
Take a moment next time you go to the store and look at the kind of products parents have available for kids. All super processed sugary colorful crap. Add some effective advertising, parents that are giving in to the kids request out of exhaustion, the kid gets hooked on the super sugary thing and wants it more, so next time they’ll whine even more, and the ball grows to a cart full of plasticky colorful sugary things. Some parents are better than others, usually if you see TV dinners you’ll see garbage food. But even the good ones that get some spinach or stuff to cook with your own hands cave in and buy some kid oriented sweet thing. And I know it’s hard, my girlfriends 11yo stepbrother stayed with us for two weeks and all he wanted to eat were Takis and ice cream. They also get creative with how they eat to always leave room for the crappy food, so you can’t really fill them up with salad to avoid it. Kids are tough on their own, but the market of food tailored for them is made for making money at the expense of addiction and obesity.

MiddleEndian 5y ago

Only minor changes are needed to make weight gain. Consider one extra soda per day (150 Calories per day) and a bit less walking around (walking a mile for an adult is about 100 Calories, those kids are smaller but probably used to walk more going from class to class at school, so let's put it at 100 Calories). 250 Calories x 30 days in a month = 7500 extra Calories a month. 3500 Calories is about a pound of fat, so that's roughly an extra 2 pounds a month, or 24 lbs per year, assuming their exercise and food consumption otherwise stays the same as it would have. Throw in another extra snack or something, they could reach an extra 36 lbs in a year. Easy to see how it adds up. Also adds up for adults.

gizmo686 5y ago
A large egg is 78 calories. Over the course of a year a single egg per day adds up to 8 lbls. However, many people are able to maintain a remarcably consistent weight without thinking about it. This suggests that humans have an innate ability to regulate body weight. The obesity epidemic can't be explained by a simple calorie analysis; it needs to account for why our innate ability to regulate body weight isn't working. At this point, I think it is pretty well established that added sugar is a significant culprit, so focusing on soda is still probably reasonable.
- fragmede 5y ago
  Humans have an innate ability to eat until they're full. However, due to food choices, the amount of calories eaten before feeling sated can be highly variable. Modern processed food is far more calorie dense than our bodies "fullness" sensors are able to process, like a laser pointer with a cat. Some cats can't help themselves and lose their shit over them. Others can't be bothered.

mensetmanusman 5y ago

One thing I didn’t realize we did differently than other parents of 2-4 y/o’s is to order the food presented by ‘yuckiest’ to ‘yumiest’. E.g. salad/veggies first, then starch/protein, then fruit, then dessert. If they refuse to eat at any stage, we show them the dessert that they would get if they continued. We learned that they will eventually eat a small salad with training (for every dinner) and it eventually becomes second nature. Small children are like pets, if you let them make the decision, then they will eat what they want until they get sick. If you provide a smaller subset of healthy choices, they learn to make better choices as a consequence.