Study Reveals How Childhood Obesity Can Impact a Person’s Life Through Adulthood
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity is linked to psychological problems like depression, for one, social issues like bullying, and low self-confidence.
In a research finding suggesting that seeds for heart ailment are "sown early in life," scientists reported they discovered "evidence of stiff, thickened arteries in children" found to be obese as toddlers.
According to Melissa Wake's study author at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia, public health initiatives "are needed in the very early years" to avoid the occurrence of obesity and to evade the risk of cardiovascular disease among adults and adolescents.
The research team which Wake led observed over 1,800 young kids in Australia who had their height and weight checked every two years to determine their risk scores of heart disease.
Eleven- and 12-year-old children's blood vessel health, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels were evaluated.
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Study Finding
Children who were found to be overweight as toddlers were also noted to have thickened arterial lining and stiffer arteries upon examination. They were at high risk too, emerging metabolic syndrome later on.
Metabolic syndrome, the study indicated, is a group of risk factors for heart disease that occur collectively. More so, signs of heart ailment worsened the longer children stayed obese or overweight.
The report which recently came out in the Pediatrics journal emphasized the silent impacts of being overweight or obese in childhood. This was also what was indicated in an institute news release, as stated by Wake.
The study leader added, their findings are in coordination with the calls of the World Health Organization for immediate concerted action to deal with such conditions via system-based methods and policy application.
Such policies explained Wake, "Include rising taxes on processed foods that are rich in sugar and fat," more harmless pathways and enhanced pathways for walking to school and public transport, and developing activities that are community-based, cheaper, and more accessible.
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Little Knowledge of BMI
So far, Kate Lycett, also from the institute said, there's a little knowledge about how early in life, BMI, or the body mass index affects a child's heart health when he grows older.
BMI is an approximation of fats in the body based on an individual's height and weight. Past research, Lycett continued, have inclined to depend on a single measurement of BMI in childhood, and then tested subsequent results of heart health in adulthood.
She also said that this overlooks the significant changes in BMI as part of the growth in a normal childhood. In relation to the mentioned measurement, Lycett cautioned that obesity is undeniably a "public health threat."
Specifically, she explained, such public health crisis is threatening the unassertive drop in deaths due to cardiovascular disease in developed countries, which "has largely been attained" through preventive initiatives intended for risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
In connection with future risks, some studies also found that children with obesity are more likely to turn into obese adults. Adult obesity, in particular, is linked to the heightened risk of several severe conditions like type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity is linked to psychological problems like depression, for one, social issues like bullying and lower self-confidence. And lastly, if children are obese, the risk factors in adulthood are possible to be quite more serious.
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