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NEWS
Countering Excess Weight Among Bnei Brak Children
By A. Cohen
The City of Bnei Brak's Department of Social Services, the
Safra Children's Hospital at Tel Hashomer, Mayanei Hayeshua
Hospital and an organization called Lateit Tikvah —
have launched an information campaign on the issue of
overweight children and youths.
According to Bnei Brak Secretary and Spokesman Avrohom
Tanenbaum, the project is designed to address the problem of
children who suffer from being overweight, which affects 20-
25 percent of all children and youths in the Western world.
Statistics and studies indicate that the sharp increase in
the number of overweight children is primarily due to a
decrease in physical activity coupled with an increase in
high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods. Overweight youths
continue to suffer from excess fat as they grow older, the
figures indicated, pointing to a close correlation between
excess weight and diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart
and kidney diseases.
Type 2 diabetes, among the illnesses associated with
overweight children, once represented just 2-3 percent of new
cases of diabetes among children and youths, while in recent
years it has seen a significant rise. Other illnesses
associated with excess body weight are high blood pressure,
which has increase from 1 to 13 percent, high cholesterol,
which affects 25 percent of children age 10 and over, liver
disorders, sleep apnea and orthopedic problems.
To cope with these problems Safra Children's Hospital has a
interdisciplinary staff and an Endocrine Unit with a clinic
that coordinates medical monitoring in this area. Proper
treatment involves gradual lifestyle change, which is being
taught in a workshop for children and their families. The
workshop includes four groups: proper nutrition, physical
activity, an experiential group and a parents' group. The
hospital also offers a hotline to provide initial guidance.
Activities in Bnei Brak began this week at Mayanei Hayeshua
Hospital.
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