Families For Life | Overweight and Obesity Management: Pre-teens and Teenagers

In Singapore, the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased from 13 per cent in 2017 to 16 per cent in 2021 amongst primary and secondary school-going children. This trend was similarly observed globally as COVID-19 limited opportunities for physical activities and affected health behaviours in children.

Is it obesity or just “baby fat”?

Many parents of overweight children expect their children to outgrow their “baby fat” when they experience a growth spurt in puberty. However, statistics from the Health Promotion Board show that seven in 10 children who are overweight at age seven, remain overweight in adulthood.

Childhood obesity can lead to the following complications:

  • Metabolic: Hypertension, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome

  • Physical: Obstructive sleep apnoea, joint problems

  • Psychosocial: Bullying, low self-esteem, low quality of life, increased risk of mood symptoms

The cause of obesity is not “laziness”

It is commonly misunderstood that obesity is caused by either laziness or the lack of willpower. Contrary to this, there are many reasons for obesity that are beyond the child’s control. These include:

  • Family and school environment, which influences the types of food available and opportunities for physical activity

  • Socioeconomic factors such as cost of living, accessibility and affordability of healthy food, adverse childhood experiences, and weight stigma (negative perception of weight gain) from others

  • Genetic factors where there is a family history of obesity

Surrounding people may also fat-shame the child in an attempt to encourage him or her to adopt healthier lifestyle habits. However, this is harmful and has been shown to increase the child’s risk to eating disorders, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

Interventions at the early stage of life are crucial for the current and future well-being of children with obesity, and parents play a central role.

Effective treatment starts with the family

Since 2007, the KKH Weight Management Clinic has been seeing an increase in the number of children with weight issues, with an average of 700 new cases per year. The clinic provides intervention and management through various methods of treatment.

Treatment that uses a family-based, coordinated care approach – involving healthcare providers, schools and communities – has been observed to be the most effective in treating childhood obesity.

Parents are the primary role models of healthy eating and lifestyle habits for their children. By adopting healthy dietary and lifestyle habits – such as eating a balanced diet and reducing the consumption of unhealthy food and beverages – they encourage their children to adopt these same healthy habits. Initiating and planning exercise and fun physical activities as a family also motivates children to stay active.

With early detection and intervention with a family focus, overweight children can improve their weight over time and foster lifelong healthy lifestyle habits, ensuring good health outcomes that extend into adulthood.

Beyond familial efforts, it is also important to ensure that schools and the community provide healthy meals and ample opportunities for physical activities. These aid in heightening awareness, and forming and maintaining long-lasting habits amongst children, to continue to make healthy food and activity choices even when they are in school or with their peers.


Contributed by:
KK Women's and Children's Hospital