Preventing Childhood Obesity Causes thru Neck Size

Studies show that by measuring neck circumference doctors can better determine if a child is obese or overweight. The new method gained the attention of researchers when confronted by the problematic results used in spotting childhood obesity by calculating the kid’s BMI ( Body mass index).

The problems arise because children are still growing and aren’t fully developed. Also differences between spawning from bone density and size (which could make them heavier or lighter) and or muscles mass can screw up statistics resulting in wrongly categorizing some children as obese or overweight when they are actually normal. Obesity is related to fat deposits and fat levels, and such different methods of spotting and preventing childhood obesity and obesity causes should be used on children

One such method proposed by Dr. Olubukola Nafiu of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was neck size measurements. This way doctors can thoroughly check if children patients are obese, overweight or normal. Through be told I don’t understand why such precise categorizing methods are needed. Just one look from a specialist should suffice. I mean let’s be realistic here, even normal people can spot obese or overweight children so shouldn’t doctors also be able to do so. But for the sake of science I guess neck size measurements can and will be a useful tool in spotting and combating childhood obesity causes.

Also besides helping doctors pinpoint childhood obesity, neck measurements can also help spot children with a higher risk of suffering from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition manifested in repeated stops and starts in breathing during sleep. It is caused by tissue collapse from the back of the neck. One other benefit is less stressful examinations since unlike belly measurements, by doing neck measurements children can keep their clothes on.

The study was conducted on 1,102 children and teenagers with ages varying from 6 to 18. The children used for the study were chosen from those who were about to undergo surgery at the center. Dr Olubukola Nafiu stated that in the future neck measurements could be used to spot children with higher risks of harsh post surgery recovery. He stated that children with higher BMI were more likely to have problems waking up from anesthetics since drugs concentrate in body fat.

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