Child Obesity poll 1684

Over-worry about fat in the diet, incomplete understanding of the insulin cycle, a lack of understanding of what is obese, child-to-child comparisons, and the cycle of children's growth patterns. In short and in lay terms (if you want the accurate technical mechnisms, consult mid level bio-med college texts wherte the exact mechanisms are described in detail):

Fat in a child's diet - Parents who deny their children at least 30% fat in their diet handicap their children mentally and physically. I also beleive that children will naturally seek fats in their diet, and when denied dietary fat, they will increase calorie intake to have their own necessary fat stores for their growth periods. It is almost universally accepted among sports nutritionists that the average person needs 30% minimum fat in their diet for the ATP cycle. Below that level in the diet, human physical performance drops measurably. (The forums I have read have them arguing about how much protein vs carbohydrtates - NEVER about the fat percent) The human brain grows fastest during the first year and in the early teen years. The primary nutrient for brain tissue development is lipids found only in fat. Logically, and in socio-economic-socio-parent group studies, children with lower fat diets did less well than children with adequate fat. (Polar bear and orca will leave the meat and eat only fat of a kill, if food is plentiful - and they have a LOT of muscle built from fat)

Insulin cycle - Since insulin is a contagion to tissues, the body strikes a fine balance between sugar and insulin, in amount and in timing of its release. First, there are only three sugars that the body uses that pbutt thru the intestinal walls - glucose, fructose, and galactose (from milk, not able to be used by 80% of adults). After eating carbohydrates, the adult body breaks it down into the two absorbable ones. For glucose, the body responds by secreting insulin. For fructose, insulin is not released. This presents two problems: Fructose - Insulin creates the depressed appebreaste. The use of cheaper fructose now used as sweeteners -which does not cause an insulin release - does not depress the appebreaste as would have the sucrose used decades ago (sucrose is basically glucose hung on a fructose molecule). Eat fructose, still hungry. In short, with fructose (fruits and the mpost common sweetener now used), the calories eaten do not depress the appebreaste. Glucose - More insulin than needed for the sugar in the blood "shocks" the cells, gradually building intolerance for the insulin in cells. This is normally prevented by the body by the slow relase of glucose - except when the timing of glucoise ingestion and insulin release is upset by short shocks of sugar. I.e., the rapid absorption of glucose into the blood and the rapid use by the cells as the pancreas responds to the intial rush sometimes presents an imbalance when the sugar runs out while the pancreas is still responding -known as "insulin bounce". In modern jargon, the glycemic index of ingested glucose is too fast for the body to handle before the insulin begins to create resistance After 30 years of eating sugared cereal and skim milksugared coffee for breakfast, that human is so insulin resitant that type 2 diabetes creeps in.

What is obese - indeed. Clinically, it is different for males and females and is a diagnosed medical condition, not the "Healthy Council for Americans" or some press-pandering think tank. It is NOT "chubby", it is not "stocky", or any cultural perception. And my pet peeve as a coach for years - it is not some kid who is defined by some right-wing congressional subcommittee as fat because they falied a pinch test at age 12 - (Rant - I personally know of two kids I coached who ran under-5 miles, 100 situps in a minute, did the stretch tests, and maxed ALL the Presidential fitness requirements - but failed the pinch test and their parents got letters warning them that their children were obese. Parents made no changes, no diets. Both kids are now 6'3, weigh 210-220, both played D1 sports, and they now fail the BMI, even though they have 6-10% body fat as measured by their teams. ) Body fat is not obese.

Body fat and growth - While some children are obese (defined by being more than 30-40% body fat) at their particular stage of development, a healthy child will store fat readying for growth spurts. (Thin children entering growth spurts in elementary school and in their early teens are smaller than their heavier counterparts at the end of the spurt) E.g., teen boys can go from 140 pounds to 165, 160 to 190 pounds of "muscle" - putting on 25-30 pounds in the space of one year. That is a half-pound of muscle and bone a week - with humans as inefficient as they are at using claories, a lot of extra calories are required to sustain that kind of growth, and once started, only the lack of calories seems to slow it for those years - IMHE, as long as the body has fat stores, it will supplement normal intake with fat stores to sustain the growth spurt. That is not to say that some kids are not obese. It is meant to note that insufficient fat and intake slows physical development, and stored fat is used for growth.

Child-to-child comparisons - I was always envious of the body builders definition, until I found out that it is gotten by creating high blood pressure just before the meet. That kid with unending muscle definition has high blood pressure to create that definition. I was as strong or stronger, played several sports, but couldn't get definition. Until the age of 13-14, it is poor practice to compare general physical attributes among children in age groups. There is too much variation in physical and mental and emotiuonal developement that a norm is hard to define. As to older children - go back to a high school reunion and see how small all those chosen high school athletes actually were. Most were early developers, who had their growth spurt arrested earlier (because of low body fat when the spurt started?), picked out of the crowd by adults and buttigned values.

fwiw... sorry - time flies and I gotta go without checking or editing...