Childhood obesity risks premature death, study finds
Published: February 11, 2010
Almost one in three children in the United States is obese, the U.S. Government predicts. A shocking figure, especially when considering what dire effects childhood obesity can have in later life. A recent study has found that childhood obesity more than doubles the chance of a premature death before the age of 55.
According to the New York Times, “the new study analyzed data gathered about 4,857 nondiabetic American Indian children born between 1945 and 1984, when the children were 11 years old on average, and assessed the extent to which body mass index, glucose tolerance, blood pressure and total cholesterol levels predicted premature death.”
The study, which followed the participants throughout their childhood and adult lives, found that those with high glucose levels (diabetes) were 73 times as likely to die premature. Those with the highest body mass index during childhood were found to die prematurely 2.3 times as likely as thin participants.
“This suggests that obesity in children, even prepubescent children, may have very serious long-term health effects through midlife — that there is something serious being set in motion by obesity at early ages,” said Helen C. Looker, senior author of the paper, said.
The findings of the study, which are published in the New England Journal of Medicine, have fueled the sentiment that action must be taken to combat childhood diabetes.
Study Co-Author Dr. William C. Knowler, Chief of diabetes epidemiology and clinical research and the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases claims the study is stating the obvious. “This is more evidence that childhood obesity is a serious problem,” Business Week quotes him as saying.
Chief of Epidemiology and Statistics for the diabetes program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Edward W. Gregg said that: “we have seen increasing obesity in youth for a while and we’ve seen concerning levels of pre-diabetes in youth, but we haven’t really known what the implications are.
“This is ultimately going to require a full-court press of multiple approaches to make a difference. This is not something that is going to get fixed in a year or two. We have to look at this over the long haul. It’s going to take slow steady efforts. That’s where we are with obesity and diabetes right now.”
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Childhood obesity risks premature death, study finds – Health … — Diabetes Information
11. Feb, 2010
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