Childhood Obesitys Effects on Bones & Joints

As with many aspects of health, obesity can create serious problems for your bones or joints. Of course, the earlier in life that obesity becomes an issue, the more damage that may be done, as the impact of weight upon the skeletal structure takes its toll over a longer period of time. 

Childhood obesity is pretty simple to understand – it happens when children or adolescents are far heavier than most others in their height or age ranges. Granted, this definition is fairly subjective, as the range of weight among children changes in every generation. However, medical science has basically dictated healthy height-to-weight ratios for any given age, so that’s really how you can draw conclusions.

Definitions aside, we all probably understand a lot of health risks associated with obesity. Most often, we probably think of heart health. However, an above average weight places strain on far more of the body than only the heart. Knees, ankles, wrists, etc. Personally, I know one person in my life that ended up needing a total knee replacement as a direct result of her obesity.

As you know, the doctors at Excelsior Orthopaedics are here to help treat orthopaedic conditions, but they would certainly rather not see those conditions begin to develop in children.   So, for your children’s sake, proactively guide them toward healthy diets and activities in order to avoid obesity. After all, obesity is one of the most difficult things to overcome. Whether it’s easier to avoid it is not for me to say, but it’s certainly better to not need to lose weight as an adult that you gained early in life.