Less physical activity proves costly for children

More and more children in the 10-12 age group were becoming prone to obesity and Type II diabetes these days, it was revealed at a discussion programme in the City on Sunday.

Also 16 per cent of Karnataka’s population suffers from diabetes with Bangalore accounting for a majority of them, it was revealed at the programme, quoting a survey based on Census 2011.

The discussion, titled ‘Increasing tendency of Type II diabetes in Children and Adolescents a major concern,’ was organised by Dia Care Centre and Lions Club on the occasion of World Diabetes Day.

According to the survey, nearly 25 per cent of the children in the 4-12 age group suffer from obesity-related problems in Bangalore.

Dr Suresh S M, consultant diabetologist of the Centre said normally diabetes mellitus (Type I), an autoimmune disease is found among children. But lately, Type II diabetes is being diagnosed among children in the age group of 10-12.

“The body mass index among children is slowly increasing with obesity becoming a major concern and Type II diabetes becoming a causative factor among schoolgoing children.

The survey stated that more than 88 per cent of the children had a family history of diabetes,” he said. The major causes of obesity among children are unhealthy meal plan and lack of physical activities, he said.

Replying to a question whether the City had enough playgrounds for children, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar said playgrounds were indeed disappearing. But, playgrounds could be created to increase physical activities among children, he said.
Since more than 66 per cent of India’s population was not diagnosed for diabetes, Dr Suresh demanded that ‘diabetes help centres’ be set up at public places.

He demanded that the government compile a proper prevalence data for diabetes in the State. Training programmes for nursing students about diabetes in their final year, compulsory physical training activities before and after school hours, training for teachers and students about healthy food habits and lifestyle changes besides including yoga, meditation and stress management programmes in the curriculum were among the other demands.

The importance of parents keeping a check on their children’s eating habits, physical activities and bad habits was stressed at the programme.