The importance of holistic intervention in children and adolescent obesity
Adolescence is a special stage in the development of obesity and implicitly for interventions to control it. From a nutritional point of view, the adolescent with weight problems is going through an extremely vulnerable period, the increased need of nutrients necessary for the correct physical and mental development being often unsatisfied due to poor eating habits. This article refers to the importance of sport and physical activity of any kind as an adjuvant treatment of childhood obesity and was conceived as a plea for the holistic approach to infantile obesity. The study briefly presents the pathological substrate of childhood obesity (statistics, causes, consequences, methods of diagnosis and treatment) and the solutions considered most effective in ameliorating and curing this problem. It highlights the role of movement in implementing specific treatments for childhood obesity, along with the modern approach to nutrition in contrast to lifestyle, and also the influence of family patterns on the manifestation of exercise and eating habits and their transmission from one generation to another. Evidence based on empirical research in the literature regarding intervention programmes in the treatment of childhood obesity is also presented. Healthy lifestyle modification programmes for weight control in children should be directed by health professionals (primary health care professionals, nutrition/diet professionals, teachers, physical activity professionals), who are specially trained in the field of infantile obesity.