Obesity and obesity biggest health problem in Thai children
November 13 2017
Overweight and obesity are the two biggest health problems in Thai children. This is according to a survey by the National Statistics Office and the NESDB.
In 2015 and 2016, the number of overweight young children (< 5 years old) doubled to 10,9 percent. Thailand therefore runs the risk of not meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations.
According to a study by the FAO, the number of children under the age of five who are overweight worldwide increased by 2014 percent in 6.
Obesity is a medical condition in which so much body fat has accumulated in the body that it can have a negative effect on health. This can lead to a shorter life expectancy and/or more health problems.
Source: Bangkok Post
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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With the liquid sugar bombs that are sold here on a large scale, obesity is quickly realized. Getting rid of it is 'slightly' slower and less easy.
When I first came to Thailand in 1992, I hardly saw fat people and certainly no fat children. Unfortunately, the healthy diet at the time has been replaced by fast food and many sugary foods.
I too saw hardly any obese children about 25 years ago. The fast food chains hadn't really got off the ground yet.
But as soon as they took root in Thailand, you saw the weight of children increase. In my environment I saw that well. Those who were mainly concerned with Thai food remained 'normal' in weight, while children, but also adults, who feasted on those fast food chains, gained weight at a rapid pace.
And because Thais naturally have a sweet tooth, it's double that.
And for the future, the public health of the Thais is just too good. Many overweight, no well-balanced diet, so many health problems.
I think it is a kind of status symbol that can show you that you have enough money and you can fatten your children, here is a woman who comes every morning to get herself 2 bags of chips and 2 pepsi and has a son who is not even a year old a few of those euro cakies and a kind of froufrou biscuits and a jar of heavily sweetened yogurt .
With her barely one and a half meters she is just like a football and apparently her son must get the same figure.
She is as proud as a peacock when she sees herself in the mirror.
Fortunately, tastes differ. The problems are for later concern.
Yes guys (women can participate too!)
A few more years and we'll have to fight to hook up a slim Thai!
But what do you want? Apart from all those McDonald's fattening houses, you have to look in all those malls and shopping centers on the top floor, what kind of fattening houses are being opened there!!
Not to forget, there is also a donut-like or smoothy tent on every floor.
Many farangs are full and the Thai may think: this is also my ideal.
Obesity isn't a childhood medical condition, it just has to do with gorging on unhealthy stuff all day long.
And one will get fat faster than the other see the same problem in the rest of the world.
It is also a prosperity disease 80 years ago in Thailand hardly anyone suffered from maja then most had almost nothing.
In the USA 1 out of 2 people has Diabetes or is Pre-Diabetes, 70% of those people there don't even know that yet.
Of these people, 2 out of 3 will die of a heart attack, deeply sad.
This is the foreland of Thailand, and the rest of the world if no action is taken.
For the time being, it is still everyone's own responsibility how to deal with the sugar addiction.
Enjoy your meal.
Nico B
Also take a look at this site, fresh from today's press, that says something about the situation with the disastrous consequences of overweight in the Netherlands.
https://www.nu.nl/lifestyle/5005616/diabetespatient-heeft-vaker-hart–en-vaatziekten.html
Nico B
Been in Th for almost 30 years and also 30 years ago it was busy at the shops when school ended.
There were many carts with candy and other sweets for the children.
But in my eyes, the youth was playing outside more and not all day on the iPad or smartphone. This does not only apply to TH, but also to many other countries.
I think many of us can also remember that on Wednesday afternoon and Saturday you went to build huts and some more.
It's not just the fast food joints. Everything is hugely sweetened. buy a jar of yogurt, is sweetened, buy fruit juice. at least 20% sugar. everything here is full of sugar. One has to go to great lengths to find something sugar free. Sweet, salty and spicy. that's all they know. They have forgotten the natural flavors
And don't forget the many "All you can eat" buffets, starting at Thb 200.
To be honest, I'm also a fan of it, especially the slightly more expensive ones because they do have quality beef and tasty desserts.
Indeed Nicky. Watch them eat a toastie with chips and rice. There is a slice of tomato and a leaf of lettuce next to it. And of course with the sweet chilli sauce and ketchup. That's 3 servings of carbohydrates (so sugars), with extra sugary sauce and more than enough fats. Add a fruit juice full of syrup, or the very sweet red Fanta, and you have the equivalent of 30 sugar cubes. Too much of your daily requirement. And that is just 1 of the (many) meals in XNUMX hours. In between chips or cake, donuts, ... you can't help but become obese!
There should be a national campaign with the latest version of the food triangle.
Gaining fat out of ignorance is a common health problem that needs to be addressed globally. On TV, for example, because it is on all day, at school where things often go wrong, and even on the work floor.
And the point mentioned earlier, lack of movement! Children play football and tennis virtually on their iPad!
And yes, Thai cuisine is one of the healthiest in the world. But where Americanization has taken hold, an obesity epidemic follows. Too bad, they used to be slender and slim, sometimes wrongly called proletarian skinny. But healthy and well.
And what about the Cola and Pepsi, on sale for ridiculous prices, if I remember correctly, 28thb for 1,5 liters. And with promotion, which is very much applicable 2 bottles for 25thb/bottle.
Yes, it does, from young to old.
When you come to one of those parties, on the occasion of getting married/initiating a house/becoming a monk, the bottles are already on the table, possibly to be mixed with Hong Tong.
This must go horribly wrong in my opinion.
Of course, the eating habit with Western or Thai fast food is a problem. Oil is also used extensively. I recently moved to a small rural village where there is a market twice a week in the afternoon. At least 2% of all stalls deal with sweets. There were 50 people cups with some fries and a few Nuggets in it to sell, but I didn't see anyone paying attention.
For example, walk into Pizza shops or Swensen in Udon Thani, then it will be full. Out of 100 Thai maybe 1 farang. The frequent Thai 'Holidays' are also a problem, because what do Thai people do when they go out for a day? Correct. lots of eating and snacking. Thais used to work 7 to 12 hours a day, 14 days a week. Now they no longer make it to 8 hours a day and they have at least 1 day off a week. So they sit much more on their butts. Online gaming is also a problem for young and old. I've been saying that for years that when I see a fat child, I feel sorry for it and I'm angry with the parents because it's their fault, not the child who has no idea of the nasty consequences of their fatness in the future. The street where I live leads to the rice fields and the farmers who pass my house every day to go to work, none of them are overweight, but remarkably enough almost all the women in the village are overweight. There are many, many hours a day in groups talking somewhere in front of a shop, house or restaurant, and if they have to go 1 meters home, they have a moped.