Chairperson :
A very good morning and welcome to Health Fair
forum. I am__________________________________will be the host for this wonderful
forum. Today we are here to discuss the issue about
childhood obesity here in Malaysia. It is one of the biggest health problems facing by the
children nowadays. We have assembled here with our panels to share information. What we
are going to do to overcome the obesity problem? For our forum today, we have with us Dr.
_____________________________ pediatrician from children Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, chef
of children and family service, Johor school district Mr. _______________________ and last
but not least ____________________ from Kuala Lumpur Health Department. Thanks for
coming.
Chairperson : So Doctor___________________, what is the factors cause childhood obesity?
Doctor ________ :
The main factor which causes childhood obesity is food. Pupils take too much of unhealthy
food.Most of the children will not have the time to take
a good breakfast at home. The children have to take their breakfast in the school canteen that
sells nasi lemak and noodles. We made our children to eat the wrong food or breakfast at the
school canteen, because they have to go to school very early in the morning.
Chairperson : What is a good breakfast actually?
Doctor ________ : A good breakfast is to have fruits or fruits juice such as
apples, bananas, oranges or papayas as our main drink
in the early morning. Fruit juices will clean and
nourish our body.We should have foods that
contain protein such as half boiled eggs, bakes beans,
roasted chicken, lamb or beef. We should have foods
that contain fibers such as cereals, oats, and corn flakes
with milk..
2._____________ : Yes Doctor I agree with you. We Malaysian are actually
taking wrong breakfast. Nowadays we need to do our
things as quickly as we could and everything we have to
do as fast as possible. We ignore our breakfast because
we have to be early at work which starts at 7.30am or
we wake up very late in the morning and we have no
time for breakfast. We have to admit that most
Malaysians are not having good food for their breakfast
and eating the wrong food for their breakfast at the
school and office canteen is one of the major reasons
why we are not very productive either at schools or in
the offices.
3____________ : In my opinion obesity is also caused by wrong lifestyle.
Wrong lifestyles are caused by our wrong belief and
mental outlook. When we have wrong belief and mental
outlook, we will have wrong lifestyles. Because of
wrong lifestyles we have both emotional and physical
stress. Stress causes us to take more carbohydrate and
sugar in our diets. School
children who are experiencing stress will like to eat
more foods that contain sugar and carbohydrate such
as ice cream, chocolates, nasi lemak and carbonated
drinks. It is true that it is
not good for our children to take foods that contain
plenty of sugar or carbohydrate for their breakfast. It is
very important for our children to take breakfast in the
early morning before they go to schools.
Chairperson : Doctor do you think the parents are aware of the obesity
issue?
Doctor ______ :From my point of view , I get to know that the parents are
not clear on What they have to do. There are no behavior
changes , taking nasi lemak as their breakfast and taking
a large amount of sugary and carbonated drinks almost
every day. On the other hand working parents are
offering outside food which contains more unhealthy
ingredients for their children.
2____________: Yes I agree with you. Some parents even award fast food
for their children success. Actually home is the best place
to start promoting a healthier environment for children.
Parents should expose their children with healthy food by
feeding them more vegetables and fruits.
3._______ : How is it possible sir, if the parents themselves not
eating vegetables and fruits. Parents are their model,
the children will imitate whatever their parents do so, if
they saw their father and mother eating more
vegetables and fruits most likely the child will follow
their footsteps. For them their parents are their hero.
Chairperson : Yes doctor food is the main reason for obesity especially
junk food. 2._________________ can you tell
us why the children are so keen with the junk food?
2._________ : It is undeniable, the children love junk food.
Advertisers and manufactures of junk food, face the
most criticism for their marketing plays, such as including
toys with products or placing advertisements during
children’s television programmers. Advertising of food
high in fat, sugar and salt has a direct effect on children
wanting and eating these unhealthy foods which lead to
obesity.
3_________ : Parents should set some guidelines for the time
spent by the children for sedentary activities such as
watching television and playing computer or video
games with junk food in their hands. They will forget
about sweat but only air-cond condition with junk food
on the table. These will lead them to overweight and
obese.
Chairperson : Unhealthy diet and lack of exercise causes life
threatening disease too. Doctor What are the health
problems faced by the obesity children and what is your
advice?
Doctor _______ : More young people, some as young as seven are
suffering from Type 2 diabetes, a disease that
generally hits those in their fifties. Overweight and obese
children are also more likely to become overweight or
obese teenagers, and if the situation is not addressed,
they will turn into overweight adults. Children who are
obese are also more likely to have impaired glucose
tolerance, decreased insulin resistance, suffer liver
disease, sleep apnoea, breathing difficulties like
asthma, joint problems, and musculoskeletal problems.
So, it is advisable to use healthier cooking methods
such as steaming, boiling, grilling and baking. Children
also should take more fresh fruits and vegetables. Plain
drinking water also is made available to school children
at all times to avoid diseases.
2_________ : Children who are obese normally emotionally
and psychological effected besides of life-threatening
illness . Children also suffer from teasing by their
peers, discriminated from family and friends, low-self
esteem and depression among the psychological effect.
These cause the children being passive and not
performing well. There were several cases of commit
suicide too because of being bullied and tease by
peers.
Chairperson : Before we end our forum, What are steps should be
taken to overcome childhood obesity?
3_______ : I would like to give some suggestions about creating a
better awareness and understanding about the body
measurements as a guide to our health. Body Mass
Index (BMI) should be listed in their report card.
Chairperson : Thank you sir. We hope from our discussion today our
community will be aware of the childhood obesity.
Prevention is better than cure. Thank you very much to
our panels for sharing opinion and information with us.
That’s all for our topic today and we will meet again.
