Obesity, a common childhood health problem is posing a great risk for the Saudi children. It is a major crisis which is resulting into innately low life expectancy of a child. To overcome this life threatening problem, Nutricia Baby Nutrition in cooperation with King Saud University Council for Obesity organized the ‘Nutricia International Medical Conference for Countering Saudi Childhood Obesity' in Jeddah on Tuesday, Dec.13 at the Park Hyatt Hotel. According to experts from Danone-Nutricia Baby Nutrition, obesity in Saudi children is increasing at an alarming rate, and they are expected to live shorter lives than their parents. This is because of the great increase in the average weight of the child as compared to their parents when they were of a similar age, and obese children usually remain obese adults, too. Countless problems like hypertension, diabetes type II, coronary heart disease, the increase of pressure on weight-bearing joints and low self-esteem are a few symptoms of being obese. Over the years, complications increase and eventually lead to death at an early age. Dr. Mohamed Abul Hawa, Manager, Danone-Nutricia, has said that the company is taking the responsibility of countering childhood obesity. Immense public awareness will be created as studies have indicated that 50 percent children around the age of six, and 80 percent teenagers are overweight in the Kingdom. “Obesity is a great problem which raids a child with many psychological, mental and physical diseases, which gradually leads to overall body weakness,” said Dr. Denis Acton. He further explained that the main cause of obesity in children is due to lack of breastfeeding by mothers. Children who are breastfed are less likely to put on weight because proteins and lipids found in breast milk is comparatively more than the manufactured baby formula. So, the first important criterion is to encourage breastfeeding until the age of two or more in order to avoid obesity. At Nutricia they always strive to provide healthy food, keeping in mind the nutritional needs and cultural traditions of children around the globe. Dr. Ayed Al-Qahtani, Chairman of King Saud University for Obesity Research and Treatment, believes that unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are also the prime reasons for obesity among children. He believes that prevention is better than cure and prevention of obesity relies heavily on the education of mothers. Apart from breastfeeding, mothers should not delay the weaning period of a child. From an early age, the child should be introduced to proper nutrition, healthy yet low-fat meals and physical exercises. Sitting in front of the TV or computer for long hours must be considerably reduced. Parents should devote adequate, qualitative time to children to help build their confidence and self
