The number of healthy weight children trying to lose weight grows, study shows

A new study by the University of Oxford in England has revealed that the number of children and teenagers in the UK trying to lose weight increased from 1997 to 2016.

The brand, however, exceeded the number of overweight and obese young people, which shows that part of those with a healthy weight are also dieting.

The scientists came to this conclusion based on the response of 34,235 young people aged between 8 and 17 who participated in the Health Survey for England, a survey that is carried out annually in the country. Volunteers were asked if they were trying to lose weight, put on weight, or if they weren’t trying to change their weight.

In 1997, 21.5% of respondents said they were trying to lose weight. Twenty years later, that number has risen to 26.5%, more than a quarter of the youth population. At first, it is possible to see this data as something positive, since childhood obesity is a problem that affects the whole world. In the UK, for example, one in three children is overweight or obese.

However, the authors light an alert for another data found. The number of participants with the appropriate weight for their age, but who were trying to lose weight, tripled, going from 5.3% to 13.6% in two decades. If in the 1990s, the proportion was 1 in 20 young people, in 2016, 1 in 7 healthy children was trying to lose weight.

Although the study did not report the motivation of these young people, pediatrician Mauro Fisberg, a member of the Scientific Department of Nutrology at the SBP (Brazilian Society of Pediatrics) points out that this may be related to issues of self-image and acceptance.

“There is a possibility that they want to lose weight because of self-esteem, ability to assess body image, persistent bullying or the greater dissemination of diets in the media”, says the expert.

Nutritionist Luna Azevedo, coordinator of the Post-Graduate Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition at the ILH (Instituto Luciana Harfenist), in Rio de Janeiro, believes that the increase in the culture of social networks, which increasingly reinforces a “thin ideal”, causing dissatisfaction with his own body, is also behind this growth.

“The attempt to lose weight among the little ones opens a huge window for the emergence of disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and body dysmorphic disorder, better known as image disorder”, he warns.

Scenario in Brazil is not fully known

There are no data that assess the situation of young Brazilians. What is known, according to the Atlas of Childhood Obesity of the Ministry of Health, is that 3 out of 10 children aged 5 to 9 years are overweight in the country.

The Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents, carried out by UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) in partnership with the Ministry, reveals that 17.1% of Brazilian adolescents aged 12 to 17 years are overweight and 8.4% are obese. The documents were published in 2019.

Fisberg says that, in his daily practice, he notices that the search for weight loss is greater among teenage girls. “In children, usually from 6 to 10 years old, the indication is almost always from the parents and it is a little late”, she claims.

The pediatrician has noticed that older boys are looking for more help to lose weight – and gain muscle. “But most of them don’t have much interest in changing eating habits or practicing physical activity. In other words, they want something more like a miracle”, says the doctor.

The British investigation showed a similar movement. Over the 20 years, girls were always the group that most reported weight loss attempts, but there was a significant growth in the male ward (from 15% to 20%).

In addition, Fisberg says that both young people and their parents have been asking more about weight loss medication.

Medical follow-up is essential

The study shows that among overweight children, the attempt to reduce the number on the scale went from 9% to 39.3%. As for the obese, the growth was from 32.9% to 62.6%.

The authors of the work also see this data as worrying because this change was not accompanied by the health system in England, which would lead to inappropriate weight loss attempts.

“It is opportune that they are taking their weight more seriously. But this is only really positive, if this is a concern with health, in addition to aesthetic pressure. We must not forget that these are children. and aesthetics shouldn’t be a concern for them”, says nutritionist Luna Azevedo.

Pediatrician Mauro Fisberg points out that this scenario will only be reversed with information and action from government programs. “To prevent overweight and body-modifying population tendencies it is important that we have educational resources and very continuous assessment of populations at risk.”