中國人一貫認為小朋友要「長肉」，吃多點也不壞。其實從小控制體重是非常重要。事實上小朋友肥胖與否受先天及後天因素影響。先天會受媽媽懷孕時飲食習慣和基因遺傳的影響；而後天因素則是飲食和運動的習慣。

肥瘦命生成？
愈來愈多證據顯示，基因遺傳是造成肥胖的主要原因之一。只要父母中有一位是肥胖者，其子女的肥胖率為40-50%；雙親皆為肥胖者，其子女的肥胖率為70-80％。醫學專家於1995年發現肥胖基因(Ob gene)。它負責掌管人體內由脂肪細胞製造的荷爾蒙Leptin。Leptin產生後經由血液循環到腦部，藉以調節食物的攝取和能量的消耗。當Leptin在血液中的濃度較低，人便容易進食過量，引致脂肪堆積，最後體重上升造成肥胖。

脂多難減？
脂肪細胞和肥胖形成有著密切的關係，脂肪細胞數目越多，體積越大，就較容易肥胖。一旦脂肪細胞增多了，若想減肥，就只能將脂肪細胞體積縮小，而無法減少細胞數目。有研究顯示，若小朋友12歲前屬肥胖，他成年後的肥胖率約有86-88%；正常體重的小朋友，其成年後肥胖的可能性，則有約18-42%。因此，控制體重應從小開始，否則將來要花費更多的時間和心血來減肥。而且肥胖會誘發血壓高、糖尿病、脂肪肝、冠心病等慢性病，影響子女終身的生活質素。

飲食失控？
常見的小食如：腸仔、糖果、朱古力、燒賣、曲奇等都屬高糖和高脂，多吃必然致肥。舉例說：每天吃十片每片40-50卡的曲奇餅，一星期便有機會增一磅；一年便會增52磅了。其實父母應為孩子選擇高纖低卡的小食，水果、小甘荀、車厘茄是不錯的高纖零食，或以冰凍低脂乳酪代替雪糕，熱量能減少１倍；以高鈣豆漿代替汽水，熱量低１倍之餘鈣質較高，糖分亦較低。良好飲食習慣應從小培養，研究顯示改變生活或飲食習慣，只需要花約2至3星期便可以改善一種不良習慣。

根據衛生署的統計，本港現時有超過21%的小學生屬過重。父母應培養小朋友有均衡的飲食和做適量的運動，避免脂肪細胞增多，切勿為減肥而過度節食，影響子女的正常發育，如遇困難，應咨詢專業營養師的意見。

撰文：米施洛營養護康中心註冊營養師林詩敏

〈米施洛〉營養中心「綜合健康及體重分析」優惠價$30 (價值$180)

分析包括：量度身高、體重、骨格、脂肪比例、腰臀比例、總水份、血壓、理想體重指標、尿糖及尿蛋白測試。

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Chinese people always think that children need to "grow" so eating more is not a problem. In fact, childhood weight control is vitally important. In fact, children being obese or not are affected by both congenital and acquired factors. Congenital one is affected when mother’s diet during pregnancy and individual genetic inheritance, and acquired factors are diet and exercise habits.

Obesity is genetically determined?
More and more evidence suggests that genetic inheritance is one of the main causes of obesity. As long as one parent is obese, their children's obesity rate is 40-50%; parents are both obese, their children's obesity rate is 70-80%. Medical experts found that obesity gene (Ob gene) in 1995. It is responsible of a human hormone, Leptin, production by fat cells. Leptin produced enters the circulation to the brain in order to regulate food intake and energy consumption. When leptin concentration in the blood is low, people tend to eat excessively resulting in the accumulation of fat and eventually weight gain or even obesity.

More fat cells makes weight loss more difficult?
The formation of fat cells is closely related to obesity. The larger the number of fat cells, the greater the volume of the cells, the more likely the individual to be obese. Once the fat cell count increases, it is irreversible. The only way to lose weight is to shrink the fat cell volumes. Studies have shown that if the children is obese before the age of 12, their adulthood obesity rate of about 86-88% while that of their normal-weighted counterparts is about 18-42%. Therefore, weight control should start in early childhood. Otherwise, it will take more time and effort to lose weight in the future. Also, obesity-induced high blood pressure, diabetes, fatty liver, coronary heart disease and other chronic diseases will influence their lifelong quality of life.

Eating out of control?
Common snacks such as sausage, candy, chocolate, dumplings, cookies, etc. are all high-sugar and high-fat. Excessive ingestion of them definitely causes obesity. For example, eating ten pieces, 40-50 kcal per pieces, of cookies daily can gain a pound of weight after a week and 52 pounds after a year. In fact, parents should choose high-fibre low-calorie snacks for their kids. Fruits, small carrot, cherry tomato is good high-fiber options. As an ice cream replacement, the energy content of low-fat frozen yogurt is one-fold-lower; as a soda replacement, the energy content of high-calcium soy milk is one-fold-lower but it possesses more calcium and less sugar. A good eating habit should be trained up as early as possible in childhood.

According to the statistics published by the Department of Health, there are now more than 21% of students belonging to overweight. Parents should train their children to have a balanced diet and do regular exercise avoiding the increase in fat cells and excessive dieting for weight loss which affects the normal growth and development of their children. In case of any difficulty, you should consult a professional dietitian.

Written by MSL Nutritional Diet Centre, Registered Dietitian, Nancy Lam.

English version is provided by HK BioTek Ltd. In case of any discrepancy between the Chinese and English versions, the Chinese version shall prevail.



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