Childhood Obesity Linked to Headaches
According to a new study from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, overweight children are more likely than their leaner peers to suffer from headaches - but if they lose weight, the headaches lessen or go away.
Dr. Andrew Hershey studied 913 children for six months, and found that the more overweight a child is, the more frequent and painful his headaches are. Some of the children had painful headaches as often as every other day.
Dr. Hershey said he believes that the cause of such headaches may be low levels of leptin, a hormone that makes people feel full after eating. Since overweight children often do not drink enough water, dehydration may be another culprit in their headaches, he said. A third possible cause is stress due to social pressures, such as teasing, bullying or being criticized, he said.
This study appears in the journal Headache.
Dr. Andrew Hershey studied 913 children for six months, and found that the more overweight a child is, the more frequent and painful his headaches are. Some of the children had painful headaches as often as every other day.
Dr. Hershey said he believes that the cause of such headaches may be low levels of leptin, a hormone that makes people feel full after eating. Since overweight children often do not drink enough water, dehydration may be another culprit in their headaches, he said. A third possible cause is stress due to social pressures, such as teasing, bullying or being criticized, he said.
This study appears in the journal Headache.
Labels: childhood_obesity, headaches, studies
posted by My Overweight Child at 7:51 AM
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