Change lifestyle

More children and teens are using drugs and taking chronic medication, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics November issue. The researchers think this is largely due to the significant increase in obesity rate among kids in the United States.

The drugs taken are normally used to treat health problems related to obesity, such as high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression. More drugs are also taken for asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which have no known links to obesity.

The researchers at St. Louis University say that the increase in medication use is not necessarily bad, per se. This may indicate there is more effective screening for the diseases involved. Early diagnosis will lead to earlier interventions, which will be good for the patients.

But the problem is that such medications have become necessary. This only indicates the extent of the nation’s problems with overweight and obese children.

Scientists also do not know the effects and risks of long term use of these medications by kids from such an early age.

The study involved a review of data on prescription claims from 2002 to 2005, coming from nearly 4 million children, ages 5 to 19. These children were all covered by private commercial insurance. Other children who are covered by government health plans or are not covered at all were not included in this study.

During the 2002-2005 period, the rate of usage for diabetes medications more than doubled while that for asthma medications rose by nearly half (46.5 percent). The use of drugs for ADHD treatment increased 40.4 percent, while usage for elevated cholesterol levels rose 15 percent.

Type-2 diabetes is the health problem with closest links to obesity. During the period covered by the study, the number of children taking medications for this condition grew more than twofold, to a prevalence rate of 6 per 10,000 children. This indicates that about 23,000 commercially insured U.S. children need to take diabetes medications.

The researchers say the health care system is seeing a lot of sick children. The obesity problem found in adults is now becoming visible in kids. Type-2 diabetes, once thought to come only with the onset of adulthood, is now very evident in kids as young as five years old.

Parents should remember these medications are not antibiotics which the kids take for only a week or so; these are drugs that will need to be taken for the rest of their lives.

Parents need to coax these children to make major changes in their lifestyle — such as eating more healthy food and getting more physical activity. Unless these changes are done soon, the children could spend the rest of their lives burdened by these illnesses.

Safety Tips:

* Have the family eat more fresh fruit.

* Teach the kids to stop consumption of sodium-rich fast foods and high-calorie soda drinks.

* Encourage children to engage in more exercise and physical activity.