REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BOGOR -- Dr Niken Churniadita, a nutritionist of Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) Hospital in Bogor, West Java, has warned parents to beware of obesity in children by paying attention to food intake and lifestyle of their children.
"Introducing healthy lifestyle and diet among children at an early age will determine their physical growth in the future," Niken remarked here on Monday.
She further pointed out that the case of Arya Permana should be a lesson for parents to pay attention to diet and lifestyle of their children from an early age.
Weighing 192 kilograms, Arya Permana is a 10-year-old child in Karawang district, West Java, who is being called the world's most obese kid.
The boy has reportedly been put on a crash diet because his obesity has started to affect his life.
"Sometimes parents become complacent and assume that a fat child is cute and adorable. In fact, this is the forerunner to the onset of chronic diseases," Niken said.
According to Niken, childhood obesity predisposes to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, liver and renal disease, and reproductive dysfunction.
She added that obesity both in children and adults is quite dangerous, because it raises the metabolic disease that affects the body's metabolism, such as excess carbon can cause diabetes, excess fat in the body can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure or hypertension can cause strokes.
Niken said eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle are among other things believed to play a role in the development of obesity in children and adults.
Further, she added that to prevent obesity is very simple. It takes commitment and strong will to run a healthy lifestyle with regular exercises and eating a balanced nutrition.