Tanita’s BIA technology helps in fight against soaring child obesity

Amsterdam, June 1, 2017 – As moms and dads around the world are celebrated today by the United Nations, many of their children are battling weight problems their parents seemingly don’t recognise. With one in three children in Europe between the ages of six and nine either overweight or obese, a health survey from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has warned parents of overweight and obese children often believe that their child was the right weight.

“One worrying conclusion is that with so many children overweight nowadays it has become a new norm for some parents, which obviously reduces the likelihood a youngster will get the help needed to tackle their weight problems,” said Jan Alderlieste, managing director of Tanita Europe, the world leader in body composition monitoring. He called on parents across Europe on World Parenting Day to heed a warning from the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) organisation that by 2025 the number of under-fives worldwide who are overweight will rise from an estimated 41 million today to 70 million.

Mr. Alderlieste said it was important that parents with overweight children build a better understanding of what a child’s weight really implies. Groundbreaking research commissioned by Tanita has underlined that it is the ratio between fat and muscle rather than weight and BMI that holds the key to later risk for metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers.

The research, carried out by leading scientists on 3,000 children aged between 5 and 18, uncovered some real conflict in findings between the measurements pinpointed using BMI, the traditional gold standard for weight measurement, and the modern BIA (Bioelectrical Impedence Annalysis) approach, which measures the relationship between fat and muscle.

Tanita’s study revealed that fuller body composition measurement showed that some of the children who registered a healthy weight and BMI actually had a high percentage of fat and low muscle mass, which could put them at risk of metabolic disease in later life. Conversely a number of those children who registered as overweight using BMI as a measurement were found to have a low body fat level and relatively high muscle mass.

“A huge amount of research has gone into finding ways to tackle childhood obesity over the past ten years and we feel BIA gives health care practitioners and parents alike a tool to accurately distinguish between increased weight in the form of fat or lean tissue,” said Jan Alderlieste.

Background

Read more about the BIA research here: goo.gl/G4FuXS

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis estimates body composition. BIA delivers a quick, safe overview of the water and fat percentage in a body. Tanita offers a variety of accurate weighing scales that make use of the bioelectrical impedance analysis to provide highly accurate body monitoring based on a smart algorithm and years of experience. The scales are used globally by consumers and professionals to better understand their body composition as a means to improve health and sporting performance.

For more information, please contact Madeleine Bosch, head of marketing, at Madeleine.bosch@tanita.eu or +31 642267416

Press enquiries to David Noble, available at noble.david@icloud.com or +44 7785302694