Health Risks for Overweight and Obese Children

Overweight Health Risks for Children and Adolescents
In the United States today, one out of every three children is either overweight or obese.
In the past two decades, the number of overweight children has increased by 50%. In that same time period, the number of obese children has nearly doubled. Studies show that since 2004, the problem is only getting worse.

80% of overweight children (age 10-15) will go on to become obese adults by age 25.

If both parents are normal weight, a child has a 7% chance of having a severe weight problem. If one parent is overweight, that child has a 40% chance of having a severe weight problem. If both parents are overweight, the child's chance of having a severe weight problem rises to 80%.

No previous U.S. generation has raised children likely to have a shorter life expectancy than its parents. Epidemiologists at the CDC predict that obesity will soon overtake smoking as the nation's leading cause of preventable death.

In the last two decades, doctors have been finding cases of what used to be "adult" diseases in overweight teenagers and children as young as age 6. New research indicates that child obesity itself may shorten one's life span, even if that person is not obese as an adult. It is imperative to recognize and treat childhood overweight as soon as possible in order to maximize life span.

Heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women in the United States. Chief risk factors include overweight, inactivity, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and smoking. A Harvard study of individuals age 13-18, followed over 50 years, showed that obese boys were twice as likely to die from heart disease versus normal weight boys. Obesity that develops in childhood or adolescence causes a greater risk of early death than obesity that starts in adulthood. Researchers have recently noted abnormal atherosclerotic changes in the hearts of overweight children as young as 5 years old. It is clear that heart disease can begin at a very early age. According to the American Heart Association, a heart healthy diet from an early age lowers cholesterol and, if continued, decreases the risk of coronary artery disease in adulthood.

The number of children diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus increased tenfold between 1982 and 1992, and has only continued to increase since that time. Not long ago, nearly all cases of childhood diabetes were due to Type 1 Diabetes. Now, nearly half of all cases are attributed to Type 2 Diabetes. Being overweight is the strongest risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes. An adult diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes may require kidney dialysis or have a heart attack in his/her 60s or 70s. A teenager diagnosed with the disease may have such complications in his/her 30s or 40s.

Being overweight also increases the incidence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, stroke, congestive heart failure, liver disease, several kinds of cancer, musculoskeletal problems, asthma, sleep apnea, infertility in women, depression, and other psychiatric illnesses.