Science Research Opposed the Myth: Overweight Child is not a Healthy Child
When Dr. Sci. med. Marina Jakšić, who had worked on her doctoral dissertation defended at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montenegro, had a clear expectation: to contribute to dispelling the still-established myth in the Montenegrin public about how an overweight child is a healthy child. Overweight, she points out, and especially at a very beginning, should be seen as a disease that threatens to damage health of the child at a given age, but also in the long term, in adulthood.
Her research as part of her doctoral dissertation started from the devastating results of an earlier national study (2013-2015), which showed that every fourth child in Montenegro faces pre-obesity or obesity, twice as often in boys compared to girls. The then "Research on obesity and poverty in Montenegrin children - clinical, pathophysiological and preventive aspects" was conducted by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montenegro, in cooperation with the Ministry of Science of Montenegro.
"Following the results of the national study, additional research into the pathophysiological foundations of obesity and metabolic syndrome (carbohydrate metabolism disorder, abdominal obesity, increased arterial blood pressure) was conducted within the Montenegrin childrens population, which are indicators of the presence of low-grade chronic inflammation and oxidative stress in the blood sick children", Jakšić said.
202 children aged 7-15 years from 10 elementary schools in Podgorica participated in the research, divided into three groups in relation to the level of nutrition (normally nourished, pre-obese and obese children), according to the criteria for assessing the nutritional status of the International Working Group to Combat Overweight.
"Results of the study showed that already in the nutritional stage of pre-obesity, and not only obesity, in children, all the listed components of the metabolic syndrome are expressed, as well as elevated parameters of low-grade chronic inflammation and oxidative stress that indicate some of the mechanisms of cellular damage, which are not found in their normally fed peers", Jakšić explains. The study suggested that the substrate for the development of cardiometabolic complications of obesity is already formed in pre-obese children, often much earlier than when the parents contact the pediatric service and diagnose overweight. "The results showed that it is necessary to actively implement preventive measures against childhood obesity through multi-sector cooperation of health policy holders, health experts, educational institutions, the media, that is, everyone who can contribute to solving this problem within their competences," Jakšić recommends. Overweight, she believes, in everyday life is perceived by a large part of the public mainly as an aesthetic or psycho-social problem, while it is often forgotten that it is primarily a health disorder, which is evident already in childhood."In the International Classification of Diseases, overweight has its own clear position. Namely, overweight and its complications (primarily cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, but also many others) shorten life expectancy and significantly weaken the quality of life of affected children and adults. According to the World Health Organization, childhood overweight represents one of the largest global public health challenges of the 21st century," Jakšić concludes. Results of this research were presented to the scientific community as part of her doctoral dissertation this year, as well as a number of scientific papers published in renowned international biomedical journals. Jakšić is an expert associate at the Pathological Physiology and Laboratory Medicine course at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montenegro.