Alarming data: some children in the Czech Republic weigh 45 kilograms at the age of three!

According to leading Czech experts, the situation is critical. Jan Boženský, MD, head of the children's ward at AGEL Ostrava-Vítkovice Hospital and a respected expert on childhood obesity, talks about the alarming cases he encounters in practice.

"The age of the children we encounter is getting younger and younger. Some already weigh 45 kilograms at the age of three," warns Jan Boženský.

These figures are shocking because they point to the onset of extreme obesity already at pre-school age, which carries huge health risks for the future, including the development of type 2 diabetes, which was previously virtually unknown in children.

Leapfrogging and changing causes

According to Dr Bozenski, one of the biggest problems is the leap in the prevalence of obesity in the child population, which began to become pronounced about 20 years ago.

"About 20 years ago, children with higher body weights started to become more common. Back then, it stemmed primarily from poor nutrition. Today, however, it is no longer just about eating habits," explains the doctor, who has been working on childhood obesity for about a quarter of a century.

Today's problem is complex and requires attention to diet, but above all to lifestyle. The obesogenic environment in which children grow up is full of cheap, high-calorie, nutritionally poor ultra-processed foods and sweetened beverages that lead to massive energy surpluses.

Digital nanny instead of a game

In addition to diet, modern technology is playing a key role in displacing children's natural play and movement.

"Children should naturally play, and that's a huge problem today. I often see a mother sitting next to her cot with her mobile phone and next to her a child who is already looking at a tablet at the age of two," Jan Boženský describes the reality that is becoming the norm.

Instead of natural movement, which is crucial for proper development, children spend long hours sitting at school, travelling on public transport and the rest of the day sitting on computers or phones. Lack of exercise and an excess of sedentary activities is becoming as serious a factor as poor diet.

Risk of diabetes and failure

Experts warn that unless there is a fundamental change in attitude, the avalanche of metabolic and cardiovascular complications in adulthood will be enormous. In one of his comments, Dr. Bozenski even stated that "we have already failed" in the fight against obesity . The focus must now be on the very young, where treatment is most effective and prevention is most needed.

In conclusion, our magazineKulturistika.com has long been drawing attention to the seriousness of this trend, the need for a healthy lifestyle and sufficient exercise for children, and has been educating children on proper nutrition and exercise.

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Source: idnes.cz