Children with severe obesity at high cardiometabolic risk
A new study carried out in North Carolina has found that children with severe obesity are at a much higher risk of developing heart disease and diabetes than those of a normal weight. Dr Ashley Cockrell Skinner, the lead researcher said that the ‘findings show a direct correlation between higher levels of obesity and adverse cardiometabolic risk factors that can lead to future disease’.
Researchers analysed data from 8,579 overweight or obese children from 3 to 19 years of age, using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. They found that the higher the severity of obesity, the higher the risks of a low HDL cholesterol level, high systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and high triglyceride and glycated haemoglobin levels. These are all well-known markers for cardiometabolic diseases. The researchers recommended that prevention and intervention strategies that look at reducing obesity in early life should receive much more attention, as it is too long to wait before the risk factors lead to disease. The paper highlights the need for increased attention to the issues that contribute to childhood obesity.
