Skipping Breakfast-A Big No-No

Most obese teens do not have breakfast, a survey has found.rnFrom this, we concluded that breakfast is very important in controlling hunger in the afternoon and the later part of the day, says researchers. The survey also revealed- surprisingly that there was riot much difference between the snacking habits and fast-food consumption of obese teens and their non-obese counterparts. The survey also showed that there was more than a 50 percent chance that an obese teen would have obese parents. The survey was carried out in a secondary school in Malaysia in 2005 and 2006 among 1,200 students between the ages of 12 and 17. Researchers says the survey found that about one-third of the students were overweight and one out of six, obese. Another surprising outcome of the study was that the teens whose parents earned less than RM1,500 a month tended to be more obese. In China, there are more obese children from wealthy households as that is a sign of prosperity, whereas in the United States, there are more obese, children among the lower-income bracket as nutritious food is expensive. It thought that most obese children in the wealthier households but the results showed otherwise. From this, we realized that the urban poor were consuming the wrong type of food. This is a very serious problem. The reason we are worried is that studies have shown that 10 per cent of those obese between 1 and 2 years of age, 30 per cent of those obese during pre-school and 70 per cent of those obese during their teens will become obese adults. Surprisingly, 62 per cent of the parents do realize that their children are obese but do not know what to do or where to go. This brought about the establishment of the Pediatric Obesity Clinic for those below 18 at University Malaya Medical Centre. The clinic is held once a month. Along with the pediatricians, there is a designated dietitian as well as a sports medicine specialist to see to each patient.rnSadly though, the waiting list is very long.