Childhood obesity: A growing epidemic
Experts say childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic. Aoife Murphy won her battle against the condition -- and has never looked back.
Looking good: Aoife Murphy holds up a cardboard cut-out of her former self, having dropped from a size 26 to 12 using the Motivation Weight Management programme. Picture: Martin Maher
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While Michelle Obama spearheads a campaign to combat childhood obesity in the USA, Ireland is turning a blind eye to what experts warn is a future time-bomb in this country.
More than 300,000 Irish children are now clinically overweight or obese, and the National Taskforce on Obesity estimated in 2005 that the number was growing by 10,750 a year. Already, the health problems associated with obesity are making their mark on an overfed and underactive generation.
"Type 2 diabetes was unheard of in young people until recently," says Anna Clarke, Health Promotion and Research Manager with the Diabetes Federation of Ireland. It used to be something people got in their 60s and 70s. Then 10 years ago, four or five teenagers were diagnosed with it. Today, 250 young adults from the age of 14 have it."
For these youngsters, the future is far from carefree. "They will be attending health services for the rest of their lives," says Anna. "By the time they reach their 30s and 40s they are likely to develop diseases such as cardiovascular problems and cancers normally associated with people in their 50s and 60s. For the girls, fertility will be affected."
Professor Hilary Hoey, consultant paediatrician and endocrinologist at the National Children's Hospital Tallaght, stresses the need to treat the problem early.
'One in four nine-year-olds in this country is overweight or obese and the problem is increasing," she says. "We see over 2,000 children at our paediatric endocrine clinic and a substantial number of these have obesity. It's easier to treat the younger children -- and there are growing numbers of obese two-to four-year-olds being referred from all over the country.
"With teenagers, treatment is more difficult. They have independent access to food and often very little access to sporting activities, particularly in girls' schools. We need to motivate and educate both children and parents about the importance of a healthy diet and exercise, but there also needs to be support from the community.
"Advertising unhealthy food should be prohibited, and food labelling needs to be much clearer so people know what they're eating."
The hospital runs a weight-management clinic for two to 18-year-olds. "It is important to treat them early, because studies show that fat children become fat adults," says Prof Hoey.
The only public facility for adults is at St Columcille's Hospital in Dublin. Patients suffer from poor mobility, ill health -- and a lack of public sympathy.
'People think they have a right to make fun of them because they see their condition as self-inflicted," says Ruth Yoder, Senior Clinical Psychologist at St Columcille's.
"Many of the people I treat end up believing it's their own fault. People overeat for different reasons, and often it is rooted in childhood and adolescence."
But obesity is not always the result of poor parenting. It can happen in the most caring families for different reasons.
"Some people use food to soothe or suppress anger," says Ruth. "Obesity can also happen as a result of serial dieting when the metabolism slows down and a person regains more weight than ever."
While early intervention is paramount, the strain on St Columcille's clinic reveals how inaccessible it is. There is a waiting list of 800, with 200 referrals nationwide every year. The National Taskforce on Obesity recommended two further clinics be set up in Dublin and one each in Cork and Galway.
None materialised. Ruth Yoder describes the situation as "frustrating".
"Public patients face a three-year waiting list for gastric bypass surgery," she says. "We're adding two people to this list each week and there are no beds. Some of these people need knee replacements which they can't have because they have to lose weight first and they're not getting the gastric bypass surgery they need in order to lose the weight.
"As a nation, we are ignoring the problem of obesity. Diabetes is one of the most expensive diseases to treat and it is progressive. There is help out there -- but you'll have to pay for it."
Growing numbers are doing just that. Motivation Weight Management is one of the biggest private weight-management operators in the country. Set up 14 years ago, it now has 23 clinics nationwide with more planned in the coming years.
"Young people overeat for different reasons and it's important to find out what's causing it in each individual," says Clinics Director Aisling Connolly.
"It may be for attention, or because they're struggling with bullying, peer pressure or the difficulties that can arise around cutting the apron strings.
"We try to build confidence in adolescents, educate them about nutrition and exercise and give them the tools to make informed choices about what they eat. We also place great emphasis on families working together."
- Celine Naughton
Irish Independent
