Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Obesity and overweight are caused by a “caloric imbalance,” or a ratio of calories burned to calories consumed, and are influenced by a variety of genetic, behavioural, and environmental factors. Obesity in children has both immediate and long-term health and well-being consequences. Obese children and adolescents are more likely to have cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high cholesterol or blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5 to 17-year-old children, 70% of obese youngsters had at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor.

Prediabetes, a disease in which blood glucose levels suggest a high risk of developing diabetes, is more common among obese teenagers. Obese children and teenagers are more likely to develop bone and joint disorders, sleep apnea, and social and psychological issues like stigma and low self-esteem. As adults, they are more likely to be fat, putting them at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and osteoarthritis. Many forms of cancer, including cancers of the breast, colon, endometrial, oesophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, are linked to being overweight or obese [1].

Families, communities, schools, child care settings, medical care providers, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media, and the food and beverage and entertainment industries all have an impact on children’s and teenagers’ nutritional and physical activity behaviours. Schools play a particularly important role in fostering healthy behaviours by building a secure and supportive environment through policies and procedures that encourage them. Students can also learn about and practise healthy eating and physical activity in the classroom. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30 kg/m2. The rising frequency of childhood obesity is causing alarm around the world. The goal of this study is to look into the link between obesity and parents’ socioeconomic position and education, as well as the link between obesity and fast food consumption [2].

Effect of junk foods on body weight: Overweight and obesity have become a global health problem in most regions of the world during the last few decades. Over a decade, high junk food intake has contributed to an increase in overweight among school-aged children in India, from 9.7% to 13.9 percent. Physical inactivity and unhealthy food habits, as well as the future health of adults, are potential negative consequences on weight status in the younger population. The use of fried meals and artificially sweetened beverages has been linked to a high BMI and obesity in youngsters. Furthermore, diets high in junk food provide relatively little nutrition [3].

Brown and white adipose tissue in high fat and junk diet and chowfed rats with dorsomedial hypothalamic lesion rats were studied in a 1991 study. The rats were divided into two groups: high fat and control rats (groups 1 and 3), and chow diet and control rats (groups 2 and 4). Obesity, he discovered, is linked not just to calories but also to the type of calories consumed. Brown adipose tissue weight, lipid content, protein, and NE turnover are all unreliable indices of metabolic activity and thermogenesis. In obesity-prone rats, junk food was also observed to boost NAc CP-AMPAR function. AMPA upregulation happened more quickly in obesity-prone rats and occurred before the onset of obesity. Cocaine-induced locomotion was observed, and cocaineinduced movement was greater in Junk-Food-Gainers than in Non- Gainers following junk-food restriction, indicating that Junk-Food gainers were more sensitised than non-gainers. He concluded that determining the extent to which these food-induced changes in striatal function are part of normal, adaptive processes versus maladaptive, “addictive-like” behaviours will be important.

The mass of the perirenal fat pad, which is connected to body weight, was higher in offspring fed junk food throughout the research than in those provided junk food after weaning. The rise in adiposity is linked to the weight gain seen in the same animals previously. An increase in IGF-1 transcription indicated increased pre-adipocyte proliferation in females given a junk food diet after weaning compared to boys, according to a study on gene expression and changes in adipose tissue cellularity [4]. Diet-induced obesity in females and an increase in liking for attractive foods in male offspring in young adulthood were linked to a regular cafeteria diet during the suckling period, regardless of dietary exposure before birth. The animals were allowed to eat whatever they wanted from the cafeteria menu. Female offspring suckled by JF mothers exhibited higher fat mass than female offspring suckled by control dams, regardless of the mother’s diet during pregnancy. It’s worth noting that it happened in the absence of a high-calorie diet, implying that these animals had a higher proclivity to store fat in their bodies [5].

Obesity and overweight are linked to a slew of cardiac issues, the majority of which are mediated by the risk of metabolic syndrome. Obesity, like other malnutrition-related conditions, has been shown to impair immune function by affecting leucocyte count and cellmediated responses, as well as causing organ damage. It has major psychological symptoms that can harm a child’s intelligence and personality, in addition to physiological repressions. Individuals with covibesity are more prone to immune system changes, thus those who eat junk food should be more cautious in this pandemic by maintaining good health hygiene and being vaccinated. It is important to highlight that junk meals and packaging materials have a negative impact on health by weakening the immune system.