Alarm: 30% of children of school age are overweight and 6% are obese

Children and adolescents are exposed to a wide range of foods high in calories and low nutritional value in schools . At the same time, as indicated by the latest Global School Health Survey conducted in Argentina (2012), opportunities for physical activity have been reduced and the amount of time spent on sedentary activities during recess has been increased. The data is alarming in a context of growing overweight and childhood obesity like that of Argentina.

In Argentina, according to the latest official data available, 28.6% of overweight adolescents and obesity, while 10.4% of children aged six months to six years suffer from obesity in the children. In turn, obesity tends to be accented in lower socioeconomic groups : an badysis of the global survey of health in schools conducted in 2012 by the Interamerican Heart Foundation (Argentina) in collaboration with Unicef ​​in 2015, it showed that overweight was 31% more common among boys of lower socio-economic status.

"Lifestyle changes, accelerated pace and socio-economic conditions encourage the consumption of industrialized and high-calorie foods.Fats and sugars, but rare in the nutrients necessary for development, growth and the proper functioning of the body, these foods contribute to overweight and obesity in children.This is the opinion of the director of nutrition of the Barceló Foundation, Norma Isabel Guezikaraian.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the cause of childhood obesity is not only focused on inadequate meals and decreased physical activity but some socio-economic factors are also at the origin of this disease. "Some of them are the education, processing, distribution and marketing of food products, or even urban planning, l & # 39; 39, environment and transportation, "said Guezikaraian, who pointed out that" children who suffer from it are at increased risk of early so-called chronic noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, diabetes, " 39, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, among other conditions. "

In this sense, the specialist insists that" it is important that the prevention of obesity in children begins in the first years of life "" correct eating habits and a healthy lifestyle are easier to maintain in adolescence and adulthood if they are instilled early in childhood, thus constituting the best way to avoid overweight ", a- he said.-In this process, the role of the family is fundamental to encouraging the child to exercise and take care of his nutrition by involving him. "

And recommended some daily practices to facilitate this task:

– Include Children: add them when buying and preparing food, giving them more responsibilities vis-à-vis their diet.

– Keep them informed: It is important that they understand what food is for, its functions in the body and how much

– Game: Cook foods in different ways, combine them and present them on the table in an attractive way. The family can play with textures, colors and shapes.

– Varied Diet: It is important to consume all food groups, primarily by increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains and dried fruits or oils gross.

– Respect the four daily doses required: the children grow up and the food must be distributed throughout the day so that the body can get the nutrients it needs (breakfast, lunch, snack) and dinner)

– Know the menu of the school: to be able to supplement it with the breakfast, the lunch and the dinner.

– Do physical activity: is not enough with physical activity at school, it takes 60 minutes a day.

The Importance of Healthy Environments

The National Coalition for the Prevention of Obesity in Boys and Girls and Adolescents, with support from Unicef Argentina and FIC Argentina have published a publication proposing a series of recommendations and good practices for the state to promote policies for a healthy school environment. Promoting these environments, as well as other policies such as tax policies, advance food labeling, and advertising restrictions for products of low nutritional quality, constitute a set of measures that states must implement to prevent the control of the childhood obesity epidemic .

In this publication, organizations propose a series of lines of action to promote the adoption of a healthy school environment. These strategies reflect the recommendations of the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO):

– Ensure an exclusive supply of healthy and natural foods, both in kiosks and school canteens, and eliminate supply of food and drinks sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt

– Guarantee free access to drinking water (eg drinkers and / or distributors).

– Integrate content on food education and healthy habits into school curricula; course on food preparation for children and adolescents, parents and caretakers; and, creation and management of school gardens.

– Strengthen physical education in schools by providing physical and human resources for this purpose.

– Ensure that the school is a free space for advertising in favor of high sugar foods and beverages. , fat and salt.

"These guidelines can serve as a basis for the development of a federal school feeding policy that provides a minimum level of regulation to promote effective and comprehensive measures across the country and to ensure fairness in school. all children and adolescents of different socio-economic levels, "said Belén Ríos, executive co-director of FIC Argentina. He added: "For the purposes of implementation, local jurisdictions should then proceed to regulate school environments, as the regulation of schools and curricula is decentralized."

" These Guidelines Will Help Guide Public Policies That Adequately Protect Boys and Girls From a Rights Perspective It Is Essential to Have Evidence-Based and Socially Approved Tools to protect the rights of children and adolescents, In this way, we support the strengthening of this coalition by Unicef, because we believe that participation is essential to move decisively forward in prevention policies. In this sense, the school deserves special shelter because it is the foundation of the right to health section, which is also a prerequisite for achieving 39, other rights, "said Fernando Zingman, health specialist at Unicef.

The National Coalition for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents network of civil society organizations established in November 2017 at the initiative of the FIC Argentina and the l & # 39; Unicef ​​Argentina. Currently, it is composed of 30 organizations from all over the country. Its main objective is to promote public policies that improve the food environment and thus contribute to the prevention of obesity in children and adolescents.