Weight problems start early, UAE paediatricians say

Dr Matlik Naseer Matlik, a consultant in paediatric neurology at Burjeel Hospital, has patients only months old who are overweight or obese.

ABU DHABI // Babies and toddlers are being treated for clinical obesity, according to paediatricians.

Dr Matlik Naseer Matlik, a consultant in paediatric neurology at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, has patients only months who are overweight or obese.

“I see them even below one year of age,” he said. “Seven months, eight months, even.”

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a child is defined as obese if their body mass index-for-age (or BMI-for-age) percentile is greater than 95 per cent. A child is defined as “overweight” if their BMI-for-age percentile is greater than 85 per cent and less than 95 per cent.

BMI-for-age percentiles calculate a child’s weight category based on age and BMI, which is a calculation of weight and height.

“I have seen a good number of babies above the 95 percentile,” Dr Matlik said. “And as we know, an obese child often becomes an obese adult.”

Dr Mohammad Chekhali, Healthpoint Hospital, also in the capital, said obesity did not discriminate by age, gender or nationality.

“Obesity goes all over the ages, throughout infancy, throughout childhood to adolescence,” he said. “We see it across the board.

“It starts with infancy. We see it with infants who are less than one year of age.”

This, said Dr Chekhali, could be the result of a number of factors, starting during the mother’s pregnancy.

Often mothers who have gestational diabetes are more likely to have bigger babies.

Genetic factors also play a role, he said, while babies who are bottle-fed, rather than breastfed, are often likely to be bigger because formulas have a high protein concentration.

“When you have a higher amount of protein given to the babies it triggers the hormones that affect the tendency to be obese later on,” he said. “This is why we always recommend breastfeeding.”

Dr Chekhali said a child’s diet had to be monitored – no matter the age.

“If you have an overweight child at the age of six months, say, because of diet problems, then 40 per cent of those infants will be obese by the age of two to four years,” he said.

“So early detection is very important.”

This year, the World Health Organisation’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity published findings from a two-year research project that addressed the alarming levels of obesity among children under five.

Worldwide, at least 41 million children in this age group were obese or overweight, the research found.

Among its many recommendations, the WHO said governments should promote healthy foods, physical activity and healthy school environments to address what it called a major health challenge.