There are a few factors that cause childhood obesity, and they can be treated by paediatricians.

How to Identify Childhood Obesity?

The body mass index (BMI), serving as a metric of weight relative to height, stands as the established standard for assessing overweight and obesity. The formula for calculating BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in meters square.

BMI Formula = weight (kg) / (height [m])²

Children above 95^th percentile are considered to be obese.

Or you could also use an online child BMI calculator.

Causes for Childhood Obesity

There are certain reasons that can cause childhood obesity.

• Genetics: If your family has a history of overweight and obesity, there is a great chance that your children may inherit obesity.
• SDOH: The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) indicates the way we live, work, and play. An unhealthy diet with high calories, like baked goods, fast foods, and packed foods can contribute to obesity.  Also, ignorance of exercising regularly or having any physical activity can lead to childhood obesity.

Risks of Childhood Obesity

1. Diabetes: An elevated body weight, commonly associated with obesity, raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This heightened susceptibility to diabetes has implications for your children's sugar consumption, as it underscores the importance of monitoring and managing their dietary choices.
2. High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol: These factors can foster the deposition of arterial plaques, leading to the constriction and stiffening of the arteries. This condition has the potential to significantly elevate the likelihood of encountering a stroke or heart attack in the later stages of life.
3. Pain in the Joints: Too much weight for a particular age category ends up putting tremendous pressure on the hips and knee joints. This can weaken the joints or even cause damage to them.
4. Sleep Apnea: Children who are overweight find it hard to breathe while sleeping and they develop a serious condition called sleep apnea. This is a condition in which breathing stops and starts repeatedly while you sleep.

Prevention

If your children have obesity, you can help them by maintaining a healthy diet and motivating them for some physical activities.

A healthy diet must contain whole grains, leafy vegetables, and fruits. Avoiding processed foods and foods with added sugar is also required.

As technology grew, children got more addicted to mobile phones than physical activities. Children aged from 3 to 5 need to be physically active throughout the day. Parents need to engage their children in physical activities.

Medical Treatments

The treatment options available for childhood obesity are lifestyle intervention, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery.

1. Lifestyle Intervention: This includes severe diets, vigorous physical activities, and proper sleep cycle. These are followed for weeks or even months to lose weight. 
2. Pharmacotherapy: Weight loss medications have proved to be more effective and the medications that are being developed today also don’t have any side effects.
3. Bariatric Surgery: The alteration of gut hormones, physical reduction of stomach size, or reduction of nutrient absorption are the medical procedures used to manage obesity through bariatric surgery.

You can consult with a paediatrician to choose the right path for your child.

• Virus
• Bacteria
• Fungus
• Progressive lung diseases
• Smoking
• Asthma
• Inhalation of saliva or stomach acid in the lungs (aspirational pneumonia)

Symptoms of Pneumonia

• Difficulties in breathing (rapid chest rise and movement of the abdomen moving in and out, sucking in beneath the ribs with nasal flaring)
• Discoloration of the nails

Vaccination is an effective method for preventing pneumonia. The following are a few effective vaccinations that you should know:

• Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and
• Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23 or Pneumovax 23)

These vaccines are specifically developed to provide protection against bacteria that are known to cause pneumonia.

Note:

• It is not advisable to administer the vaccine to a child who has an allergy to PCV.
• It is not recommended to administer the flu and pneumonia vaccines to your children simultaneously. There is a possibility that it could heighten the risk of experiencing seizures along with fever.

Here are some effective preventive tips to protect against pneumonia:

Practice personal hygiene: Proper handwashing is essential for preventing the transmission of viruses, bacteria, and fungi, into children's respiratory systems. It is important to encourage children to wash their hands often and consistently follow proper hygiene practices.

Avoid Exposure to Infected People: It is essential to minimize children's contact with individuals who are infected, as many respiratory infections can be transmitted through aerosols or contaminated surfaces.

A well-balanced diet: Providing them with nutritious foods that include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help strengthen their defensive nature against infectious diseases. Also, ensure to help them follow a regular exercising habit.

Mitigating exposure to harmful chemicals: Limiting children's exposure to harmful chemicals found in household products, cleaning agents, and pesticides can help reduce their risk of developing respiratory and other health issues.

Taking precautions against pollution: Wearing masks in heavily polluted areas and using air purifiers at home can help reduce the risk of respiratory problems and other health issues caused by pollution. It is also important to stay informed about air quality indexes and avoid outdoor activities during times of high pollution levels. 

Prompt Action for Child with Pneumonia Symptoms

If you believe that your child is experiencing symptoms of pneumonia, it is important to promptly seek healthcare guidance from a doctor, especially consult with a paediatric pulmonologist. Most child pneumonia cases do not necessitate hospitalization, as they can be effectively managed at home. To do so, get to know a few tips to manage it effectively at home:

• Strict adherence to the medicine
• It is advisable to refrain from using over the counter (OTC) medicines.
• Regularly monitoring your child
• Keep your child hydrated.
• Ensure that your child gets plenty of rest.
• Use humidifiers.

Conclusion:

Pneumonia can be effectively treated within one to two weeks using the help of antibiotics. Coughing may persist for weeks or months following the resolution of the infection, but it should gradually abate. Therefore, protecting your child with the vaccine is of the utmost importance at all times. In addition, always keep in mind to consult with a paediatrician for guidance on vaccination schedules and if you have any concerns, you may take online doctor consultations with the best paediatrician instantly to address your specific questions and concerns. Online doctor consultations can provide convenient and reliable advice from the comfort of your home.

Most of the neonatologists practice in hospital-based neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and it is a specialized kind of new-born nursery that stays open 24 hours, to care for sick or early infants. Additionally, it is possible that the infant will continue to see a neonatologist even after being discharged from the hospital; this specialist will work together with your child's primary pediatrician.

Role of a neonatologist

A neonatologist,

• Identifies and cures problems, infections, and diseases affecting neonates.
• Manages and directs the delivery of care, including surgical procedures.
• Uses diagnostic imaging techniques including X-rays, echocardiograms, and ultrasounds, as well as blood tests, to check up on an infant’s health and track organ performance.
• Provides nourishment for infants who are ill or recovering from illness.
• Cares for a new-born with special needs right after birth and helps in the delivery area.
• Consults gynaecologists, pediatricians, and specialists in maternal-fetal medicine regarding the care of the child.
• Facilitates family well-being during the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay.

A neonatologist's support is required when the child is diagnosed with a hereditary impairment.

The baby may be born with a genetic disorder like cystic fibrosis or there may be structural abnormalities in one of the baby's organs. And neonatologists collaborate with doctors and experts in the maternal-fetal field to oversee the care of new-borns before, during, and immediately after childbirth. When complications arise during pregnancy or delivery, a neonatologist may be required.

What does a neonatologist treat?

Neonatologists specialise in caring for new-borns with abnormalities or injuries. Typically, neonatologists deal with a wide range of illnesses and conditions, including:

• Premature birth or stunted growth of the infant
• Abnormalities present at birth, or congenital defects
• Issues with breathing or circulation of the blood to the lungs
• Conditions affecting the heart such as congestive heart failure, septal abnormalities, and bradycardia
• Seizures, brain haemorrhaging, and other similar problems
• Reduced glucose levels in the blood (Hypoglycaemia)
• Taking care of a person's diet and development, or putting in a feeding tube
• Cirrhosis, jaundice, or other kidney or liver issues.
• Injuries at birth 

Neonatal expert procedures

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is well-equipped to supervise infants in need of specialized care, and if your child needs surgery, a neonatologist will manage the operation. They also generally use treatments and procedures for the infants, which includes:

• Breathing treatments such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), ventilators, and others
• Premature infants who are unable to maintain a normal body temperature may benefit from warming treatment.
• Baby brain injury treatment with cooling therapy
• Jaundice can be treated with light therapy
• Fluid, antibiotic, and drug administration, as well as blood transfusions, administered by intravenous (IV) therapy

Neonatologists are medical practitioners who are qualified to treat infants since they have specialized skills to offer the care that new-borns need. They provide extra care for new babies who experience illness. Consult a neonatologists when your infant needs a particular care. 

Neonatologists: trained doctors handling complicated and high-risk situations arising in newborns and infants.

Gastroenterology paediatricians: A child’s digestive, liver and nutritional problems are quite different than that exists in adults. A lot of serious problems – inflammatory bowel disease, lactose intolerance, vomiting, bleeding from gastrointestinal tract, etc., are treated by these experts.

Developmental behavioral Paediatricians: who evaluate the behavioral development of children and teens, diagnose, and treat developmental and behavioral problems in children and teens.

Paediatric rheumatologists treat children and adolescents who have musculoskeletal disorders, such asjuvenile rheumatoid arthritisand chronic pain.

Paediatric Oncologist: Concerned with diagnosing and treating cancers that arise in children.

Endocrinology Paediatricians: A child grows through a gamut of hormonal disorders, which they themselves will not be able to understand and express out efficiently. Thyroid disorders, early or delayed puberty, etc., will require the intervention of pediatric endocrinologists to diagnose and manage these conditions in children.

Apart from the aforementioned, a child may often be challenged with the following common illnesses as they grow and that includes common cold, sore throat, teeth pain radiating up to ear, bacterial sinusitis and cough. 

What does a paediatrician do during these visits?

• Conduct physical exams.
• Making sure the child meets the developmental milestones during their growth.
• Provides and recommends the needed immunizations and vaccines.
• Diagnosed common child illnesses and treated injuries, fractures, illnesses, and infections.
• Provide detailed information about a child’s necessary nutritional requirements, overall health, and safety.
• If care is needed beyond the paediatric expertise, they provide referrals and talk to concerned pediatric specialists to provide specialized care.