US Scientists have shown that if a girl is overweight before she is a teenager, she is more likely to be obese and have a higher risk of heart disease as a woman.
This study, by researchers at the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
The scientists took data from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study (NGHS) where measurements are taken from girls every year between age 9 or 10 and 18. They then followed them up at 21 to 23 years. 1166 Caucasian and 1213 African-American girls took part in the research.
The research focused on the extent to which the girls were overweight, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based on body mass index (BMI). They also looked at cardiovascular risk factors using blood pressure and lipid levels (HDL cholesterol and triglycerides).
The results showed there was a significant difference between the white girls and the black girls, both at age 9 and as they grew into adulthood. 7 per cent of the white girls were overweight in their pre-teens, rising to 10 per cent on reaching adulthood. Of the black girls, 17 per cent were overweight at age 9, reaching to 24 per cent in adulthood.
The blood pressure and cholesterol levels also increased gradually, year by year, in the overweight groups.
Another startling finding was that being overweight as a pre-teen makes it between 11 to 30 times more likely that you will be obese as an adult, and this is also associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
The main conclusion of the study is that a significant relationship exists between risk of heart disease in adulthood and being overweight by the age of 9.
According to the CDC, 17 per cent of US adolescents are overweight, and 61 per cent of these have at least one factor, like high blood pressure or cholesterol, that increases risk of heart disease in later life.
Overweight kids are more likely to suffer joint and bone problems, and have psychological difficulties such as social stigmatization and low self-esteem. They are also more likely to become obese as adults and in addition to being at higher risk for heart disease, they are also more likely to get type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.
Many parents will look at this research and see the age range around 9 and 10 and point to the very understandable problems of raising a pre-teen, or “tween” in our day and age. This is the crucial time when kids (and girls seem to do this earlier than boys) start listening to their peer group and pay less attention to what their parents tell them about diet and exercise. It’s not “cool” to follow Mum and Dad’s advice.
However, look more closely, because this reasearch suggests that the problem occurs much earlier, in the years leading up to the nines and tens, while children are very much under the influence of parenting behaviour and attitudes.
It would seem that the health education challenge is not just of tweens, but of parents too.
“Childhood Overweight and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study.”
Douglas R. Thompson, PhD, Eva Obarzanek, PhD, Debra L. Franko, PhD, Bruce A. Barton, PhD, John Morrison, PhD, Frank M. Biro, MD, Stephen R. Daniels, MD, Ruth H. Striegel-Moore, PhD.
The Journal of Pediatrics Volume 150, Issue 1, Pages 18-25 (January 2007).
Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today