Overweight, low-IQ kids 'a wake-up call for society'
The Sunday Nation

Courtesy of FrieslandCampina (Thailand) PCL Academics are urging parents to get their kids to exercise regularly, eat healthy and drink milk daily.

BANGKOK: -- With research indicating more Thai children will be overweight, shorter and have a lower IQ in the next decade, academics are urging society to prevent kids from growing up with low potential.

Citing the increasing problem of malnutrition in Thai children as alarming, the South East Asia Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) research - supported by Foremost milk manufacturer FrieslandCampina - revealed that the main reason for this was a lack of exercise and insufficient nutrients. Hence, children should exercise regularly, eat healthy and drink milk daily.

The research - conducted in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam - has been in progress for three years. Phase two started in 2013 and is due to finish next year.

The Thailand survey in 2011 and 2012 involved 3,119 samplings aged 0.5-12.9 and was supervised by Mahidol University's (MU) Institute of Nutrition.

It was found that obese children aged three to six might also be overweight between the ages of six to 12.

Anaemia occurs twice as much in rural children than urban children while 30-40 per cent of the sampling had vitamin D deficiency.

Malnutrition came from receiving insufficient nutrients necessary for growth such as vitamin A, vitamin D, iron, iodine and calcium since the infant stage.

If the issue remains unchecked, it will lead to unhealthy characteristics in the population over the next decade that will become a national problem.

It is the government sector's responsibility to focus on the problem as well as implementing preventive measures to solve the problem, the study said.

Nutritionist and SEANUTS's principal investigator, Dr Nipa Rojroongwasinkul, said the issue of insufficient nutrition needed to be resolved through collaboration between family and state policy. Many parents lacked knowledge about nutrition.

Women require sufficient iron and iodine during their pregnancy, she said, adding failure to do so could affect a child's IQ.

Latest research showed that the average IQ for Thai children was 90-92, when it should be over 100 according to normal standards, she added.

MU Nutrition Physiology head Dr Kallaya Kijboonchoo said besides eating five food groups and getting enough sleep, Children aged six to 12 should play sports daily that required running and jumping such as basketball, which would improve bone flexibility and lead to a person being taller.

She urged parents to have them drink milk daily and since calcium could be absorbed better with the help of vitamin D, kids should play outdoors.

As the survey found both urban and rural children had vitamin D, vitamin A, iron and calcium deficiencies, she said families should urge kids to exercise and play sport.

"Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added.

The Department of Health's Bureau of Nutrition specialist Sa-nga Damapong said the government sector was concerned about childhood obesity.

He said the Thai National Health Examination survey showed that 5.8 per cent of the population between the ages of two and five was obese in 1997 compared to 7.9 per cent in 2001, while obesity in children aged six to 12 had risen from 5.8 per cent to 6.7 per cent in 2010. Both age groups have increased rates of obesity of 8.5 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively.

Sa-nga said the government sector had projects to prevent child malnutrition such as the Public Health Ministry's project to reduce the consumption of sugary, fatty and salty food.

This project, initiated in 2013, aims to end bad eating habits and add more servings of vegetables and fruits, while also raising parents' and children's awareness of unhealthy diet dangers, he said.

Furthermore, he said the ministry also promoted the intake of more iron and iodine for pregnant women to promote IQ and brain development in children.

-- The Nation 2014-06-08

Banning the sale of junk food and running the fast food companies out of the country would be a good start to a more healthy bunch of kids.

Though I fully agree with the article that the kids have to eat more healthy and do more sports, I always think it's strange that the government want to promote milk so badly but the prices are 110% higher than my country in europe... than I still not talk about the taste of milk here

What's with the picture?

I read a few years ago that diabetes would be the number one problem in Thailand based on the amount of sugar used in nearly everything they eat and drink.

Its not just a Thais it's happening all over the world with the kids and the internet games which they play for hours on end when they could be out playing and exercising and unfortunately parents are using these games to act as babysitters when they should be encouraging the kids to take up a sport.

Shame with the obesity with all the great healthy food that's available in

20 years too late..start by getting rid of all the sugar and salt craap sold in 7/11 family mart etc................people are too far down the junkie road to change locked into their massive sugar fixs and playing on mobile phones 24/7 taking non stop sellfies ..the future is scary and thank god im not going to be part of it

Forget all that. The school directors allow all these sweet kanom vendors to sell to these kids when they arrive and leave school.

Studying? NO! The milo or ovaltine truck is visiting. Everyone to have some sugar before studying!

I instantly raise an eyebrow when I read the second sentance ...

"Citing the increasing problem of malnutrition in Thai children as alarming, the South East Asia Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) research - supported by Foremost milk manufacturer FrieslandCampina - revealed that the main reason for this was a lack of exercise and insufficient nutrients. Hence, children should exercise regularly, eat healthy and drink milk daily."

If I pay for a report ... I'm sure it can say enything I want it to say ... either in Asia or the West.

It breaks my heart to see the fat kids of Prathom waddling their way to the classroom tbese days, earnestly stuffing yet another Ley crisp into their bulging mouths. The problem is definitely far worse in the cities but upcountry every village shop sells plenty of junk too. Malnutrition used to be a big issue upcountry and in our desire for kids to have enough to eat we have forgotten the right kind of food is essential too.More education is quickly needed.

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

When research funded by a milk manufacturer proves that children have to drink more milk, I have doubts about the research.

Also. there are really a lot of conclusions (I.Q., vitamin A intake, vitamin D intake, iodine intake, milk intake, electronic screens, salt, fat, being obese, ... ) from this one research, I wonder how much of it is scientific.

It looks more like an article from a women's magazine than the conclusion of a scientific research.

Ever seen those Internet cafés jammed packed with kids for hours upon hours all weekend and after school?

I would blame the schools it's directly on the parents head to make they raise a healthy happy child and if that includes making sacrifices then that's what needs to be done.

Banning fast food outlets is not the answer discipline and moderation is!

For years I've been wondering if "something" has changed since I was a child. LOL Well alot has changed but re: milk consumption. I was given milk three times a day and maybe - if I was lucky b/f bed with a snack.

In Thailand I do not see ANYONE and especially children drinking milk. In the early am I see school children coming from home drinking sweet drinks e.g. soda etc. Why no milk? Is it lax parenting/economics/ ignorance ? What???

"Children aged six to 12 should play sports daily that required running and jumping such as basketball,"

How about long jumping? Just build sand pits in every school.

****

On a serious note, regardless of who sponsored the study, it is obvious that dairy (and sufficient high quality protein) is lacking in the Thai diet. Although I don't think sweet treat vendors should be allowed near a school, I believe the responsibility lies with parents. A large part of parenting is teaching our children to make better decisions in life by providing facts. Sadly, when the parents' education is woefully inadequate, the child suffers and taken to its exponential conclusion, society suffers as well.

Hospitals could provide a great service to the community by offering free seminars on nutrition, but would anyone attend? Playing games on smartphones is infinitely more fun!

They drink lots of milk in USA, but they're still obese and kids have lower IQ than kids in the past. So how will milk improve things here? Are they now trying to say you get fat by not drinking milk, and that drinking it makes you slim. Whole article is sadly lacking. Just a advert for milk, which Asian people should'nt be drinking anyway. Thailand is too hot for cows. It's not natural for humans to drank baby food of another species. Babies should be drinking their mother's breast milk not suckling a cow.

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

Don't be too cynical. I don't know your age but I was born mid 60's and when I started school, if there was a fat kid, he/she was a laughing stock, a curiosity, very odd. By the eighties when I finished school, fat kids were no longer so odd as there were so many of them, especially in the younger generation. It correlates to the introduction of TV. In the 50's Australia, not everyone had one but by the 70's, everyone had one.

Now with the advent of electronic games and comms, in some neighbourhoods the sporty kids are the odd ones.

For years I've been wondering if "something" has changed since I was a child. LOL Well alot has changed but re: milk consumption. I was given milk three times a day and maybe - if I was lucky b/f bed with a snack.

In Thailand I do not see ANYONE and especially children drinking milk. In the early am I see school children coming from home drinking sweet drinks e.g. soda etc. Why no milk? Is it lax parenting/economics/ ignorance ? What???

Is it lax parenting/economics/ ignorance ?

Yes & Yes & Yes, ( maybe two Yes's on the last one)

I didn't pay any attention to it untill my own son was born, now 3 years old.

As with everything Thais seem to take the easiest way, kid drinks coke, smiles and laughs = give him some more coke. Wife's cousins boy, same age as mine had coke put in a milk bottle from 6 months old. I had to pitch several fits over soft drinks, potato chips, candy, chocolate etc being shoveled into my boy. The women would look at me like I had horns on my head "But he LIKES it it" was there reply.

I nipped the soft drinks in the bud and gave my little guy juice instead, now he won't touch a fizzy drink, asks for water or juice instead. The women marvel at this and say its because he's half farang not due to any training or instruction or anything like that.

When my son turned 2 years old the wife asked it we should stop giving him milk. She said its normal in the village for people to stop milk (if there getting any at all) at two. From then on it's a diet of rice, sticky rice, little bits of meat and whatever candy the kids points to.

I said my guy will get milk until he's 18 years old, then he can decide. He loves the stuff thank god.

My boy 3 years old 13kg, slim healthy, runs around like a little terror, wears out a nanny, mom and dad every day and sleeps like a log.

Wife's cousin's boy, nicknamed Sumo because he so fat. No milk any candy he wants and weighs in at 22kg and has trouble breathing after running across the yard.

Do they see any correlation to this?

None what so ever.

Shorter ? id say they are getting taller, as to drinking milk its a good idea. The fact is people eat far more than they should and the wrong stuff mostly when they do. As many here have said the processed sugar, chemically enhanced and dried rubbish like mama and a heck of an overdose on rice which does nothing but adds sugar and starch with little else dosnt help.

My main irritation eating out is that most Thai food dishes do not contain anywhere enough vegetables, when snacking its better to do it on raw veg or fruit than a packet of processed chips or a hot dog with crap in it. I reckon som tam is about the healthiest food but even that tends to have a spoonful or two of sugar thrown in.

Irs got its own problems of rubbish food same as we do in the west it dosnt need the west fast food stuff on top of their own rubbish. Try telling that to people though they just dont get it... its cheap and what they look for but thats the funny bit... its cheap because theres little natural in it and the result is its paid for in the long run by their health.

As for exercising that should be a given for kids everywhere.

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

Don't be too cynical. I don't know your age but I was born mid 60's and when I started school, if there was a fat kid, he/she was a laughing stock, a curiosity, very odd. By the eighties when I finished school, fat kids were no longer so odd as there were so many of them, especially in the younger generation. It correlates to the introduction of TV. In the 50's Australia, not everyone had one but by the 70's, everyone had one.

Now with the advent of electronic games and comms, in some neighbourhoods the sporty kids are the odd ones.

Yes, but it's not the games/tv that are to blame.

It's a society that doesn't value healthy eating, exercise and a healthy lifestyle. The games don't cause obesity, it's feeding kids crap food, drinking drinks full of sugar, allowing property developers to build on green spaces where kids could run around and play sports and not replacing them with facilities that encourage and develop a healthy attitude towards exercise.

The "electronic screens" are not the cause of any of these, they are just an excuse and something to blame for a whole host of other failings.

P.S. I am about the same age as you.

Though I fully agree with the article that the kids have to eat more healthy and do more sports, I always think it's strange that the government want to promote milk so badly but the prices are 110% higher than my country in europe... than I still not talk about the taste of milk here

Hardly strange, the reason is in the first paragraph.

O M G

How could Thai kids GET a lower I Q ???

The ones around here are as thick as 2 short planks

I was born in 45 - never saw any fat kids and at school we were made to do sports six days a week as well as PT every morning. There was not much milk about at the end of the war . I firmly believe in exercise and still swim a km every day and work out in the gym four times a week - good diet is a luxury these days with food prices absurdly high but anyone can exercise- it should be a priority in all schools.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

In about 30 years we are going to be talking about how we possibly ever let food production turn our population so unhealthy.

Here is the best diet - Don't eat or drink anything that has its own commercial. When was the last time you heard about a commercial for lettuce, or celery?

Well FWIW I think Thai kids are drinking more milk now than they did 25 years ago, and also there are a lot more fat kids around. But there are also a helluva lot more tall kids. I put the taller kids down to milk and the fat kids down to eating rubbish (which is what they always are seen doing) but I could be wrong.

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

Don't be too cynical. I don't know your age but I was born mid 60's and when I started school, if there was a fat kid, he/she was a laughing stock, a curiosity, very odd. By the eighties when I finished school, fat kids were no longer so odd as there were so many of them, especially in the younger generation. It correlates to the introduction of TV. In the 50's Australia, not everyone had one but by the 70's, everyone had one.

Now with the advent of electronic games and comms, in some neighbourhoods the sporty kids are the odd ones.

It doesn't only correlate to the intro of TV. It also correlates to the advent of junk food, very much, and that correlates more in Thailand than anything else, regarding a massive change in diet for youngsters in recent years. TV and Games is a background issue.

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I read a few years ago that diabetes would be the number one problem in Thailand based on the amount of sugar used in nearly everything they eat and drink.

Its not just a Thais it's happening all over the world with the kids and the internet games which they play for hours on end when they could be out playing and exercising and unfortunately parents are using these games to act as babysitters when they should be encouraging the kids to take up a sport.

Shame with the obesity with all the great healthy food that's available in

The trouble with Asian kids is their bone structure is not the same as European, so fat and big are not the same, but you are right on with your blog.

So if Thais are drinking more milk, why are IQ's not getting better. Do they have to drink even more? Milk is good for you, but Asian's don't drink a lot of dairy, yet some Asian countries have very high IQ's. Fish is a much better brain food than milk.

As far as obesity is concerned, dairy is no help at all. Milk can be fattening by itself, but many dairy products have added sugar and fat. And these are the ones the kids prefer.

I think Foremost is getting a free ride on milk marketing here.

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Banning the sale of junk food and running the fast food companies out of the country would be a good start to a more healthy bunch of kids.

Good point.

Plus junk food in Thailand is outrageously expensive and eats a very big hole in the spending power of the average Thai family. It costs less than half of this money to buy healthy fresh food.

Everything has sugar including the savoury stuff. And then on top of that the average person will get on a motorbike to travel 10yds instead of walking. The outcome is fairly predictable.

Preventing children from growing up with low potential will need a sea change in attitudes towards education, parental responsibility and so on.

I suspect that, as usual, it will be talked about, nothing much will happen and it will be forgotten again until someone needs to see his or her name in the media.