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Does obesity pose a health risk to children?
Babies and toddlers look very cute and adorable when they are podgy and plump, don’t they? Since I can remember we’ve been made to believe that the fatter your baby the healthier he/she is. This theory however has become quite controversial and some studies have shown that if your baby bridges on obesity then in the future he/she could suffer from some serious health problems.
We spoke to Dr Jog about obesity and the risk factor involved in babies and toddlers. “Chubby does not mean that the baby is necessarily healthy,” said Dr Jog,“ In fact, babies with big heads might look amazingly adorable but the fact remains that they could be suffering from a deficiency of Vitamin D”. He also said that the signs which a pediatrician looks for in babies are wide wrists, large heads and the texture and color of their skin.

After breast feeding for six months, Mrs Purna Dixit realized that her baby had really become healthy and the complexion of her child had also improved remarkably. The baby had become almost two shades lighter. Her mother–in–law would be so happy to see a such a fair child, she thought to herself. But was the baby really healthy? Mrs Dixit could not be more wrong. The truth is that only giving your child milk for a long period and that too in its growing up years is very wrong. It is a myth that milk is a complete diet, and in thinking that way, one can actually make one’s children anemic. That is what had happened to Mrs Dixit’s child, the color of the skin was only becoming fairer according to her. The child in actuality was turning pale due to lack of proper nutrition. Dr Jog also states that, “They feel that their children have become fair but it is only anemia, top milk too lacks in Vitamin D and iron. Thus, neither breast nor top milk can suffice the nutritional requirements completely”.

Read more: Obesity Risk to Children