Many mothers do not know their children are overweight.

In the workshop "Nutrition status of urban children in Vietnam" held at the end of September, doctors all said that the rate of overweight and obesity is increasing rapidly.

In 5 big cities where the average living standard is high, this rate is increasing dramatically with 86,000 children compared to 300,000 children nationwide. Leading is Ho Chi Minh City with a rate of more than 10%, Da Nang 9.9%, Hanoi 5%...

Obese children will feel physically heavy, and it will be difficult to keep up with their friends in learning and playing activities. In the long run, children will have a higher risk of chronic diseases than others. For adults with full awareness, treating overweight and obesity is difficult, but it is even more difficult for young children because they are at the age of eating and growing up, and parents always have the mentality of spoiling their children. Therefore, it is necessary not to let children become obese and then treat them, but parents need to know how to prevent obesity from their children's daily diet.

The cause of overweight and obesity in children comes from the mentality that "big children are healthy" of parents. Master, Doctor Nguyen Duc Minh (ISMS Institute) said: "Although mothers know the risks of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases, they still choose foods rich in fat because they believe that these foods help children gain weight and increase height". Meanwhile, Associate Professor, Doctor Le Bach Mai (Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition) also said that children should reduce their intake of starch-sugar foods, increase protein and especially fat. Of which, fat from processed foods in snacks accounts for a high proportion, especially cream cheese, fried chicken...

A box of pure yogurt, fat accounts for over 70% of the total energy that children need. Therefore, if parents abuse yogurt to feed their children, they unintentionally provide too much fat without knowing, easily leading to overweight and obesity in children. Also according to a survey by the Institute of Medical and Social Research, to help their children gain weight, up to 32.04% of mothers force their children to eat yogurt. Currently, national nutrition programs as well as health organizations around the world often focus on reducing the rate of malnutrition in young children, not paying much attention to obesity prevention. Therefore, for young children to develop well physically and mentally, above all, parents need to be more aware of choosing healthy foods with a balanced diet and a healthy physical activity regimen for their children.

According to VnExpress - PC