CONSEQUENCES OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY ~ enpetals: your health matters

Children who weigh too much get a head start on chronic diseases that ordinarily only develop much later in life. To take just one example, up to 20 percent of obese kids have hypertension.
A recent estimate based on NHANES 111 data says that among all kids ages 12 to 19, about 4.2 percent already have metabolic syndrome. And among overweight adolescents, a staggering 28.7 percent already have it. That means that about 910,000 American teens are already at risk of heart disease,diabetes, and premature death.

The problem is even more severe in minority communities. In Nigeria obesity is more common with kids from wealthy families. Among overweight Latino children, nine out of ten have at least one risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes,and three out three out of ten have three or more risk factors for the metabolic syndrome.

Impaired glucose tolerance is now common among obese kids. In one study at Yale university, 25 percent of obese children ages 4 to 10 were glucose intolerant; 21 percent of obese teens were glucose intolerant. And in the course of the study, the researchers found that 4 percent of the teens already had diabetes and didn't know it.

Children who weigh too much get a head start on chronic diseases that ordinarily only develop much later in life. To take just one example, up to 20 percent of obese kids have hypertension

Heart disease and diabetes aren't the only health problems overweight youth face, they are most likely to suffer from asthma due to the increase in inflammatory chemicals caused by elevated levels of insulin. They also often end up having bone and joint problems for the same reasons. Overweight girls tend to reach puberty and begin menstruating at a younger age. This means that they stop growing sooner than other girls and end up as short, overweight adults. They're also likely to suffer from poly-cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The underlying metabolic imbalance, combined with a probable genetic component that causes PCOS, makes these girls much more likely to become diabetic as they get older.

Children's mental health can suffer as much as their physical health.

Obese kids are greater at risk for emotional problems and low self-esteem,

and can become isolated and depressed, especially if they're teased about their weight. The flip side of this is that behavioral problems, such as being hyperactive or depressed, can lead to obesity. A study in 2003 showed that normal-weight kids diagnosed with behavioral problem were five times more likely to become overweight over the next two years than youngsters without a problem. Why do these children gain weight? Late Dr Atkins believed it's because they're "medicating" themselves with high-carb (carbohydrate) foods as a way to deal with stress and unhappiness, yet the very foods they use to comfort themselves only make the problems worse. And, according to a recent study, severely obese children (and their parents) rated their obesity as affecting their quality of life to the same extent as that experienced by children going through chemotherapy.