Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

The My Overweight Child blog will help you keep informed about the latest research, findings, and resources available to parents of overweight or obese kids. There are many knowledgeable people working on the increasingly dire problem of childhood obesity - and we want to give parents a place where they can check in regularly to see the latest studies and tips available to help you help your child lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

We invite you to add your comments - if you have feedback for the blog, would like some specific topics covered, or you just want to share your experience as a parent dealing with childhood obesity.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Obese Native American Children Twice as Likely to Die Before Age 55

Obese children are at twice the risk of dying before their 55th birthdays, according to a new study of Native American children.
  • Researchers from Umea University in Sweden reviewed the health records of 4,857 children born in Arizona between 1945 and 2009.
  • About 30 percent were obese as children.
  • Over a period of 24 years, 166 died, and those obese as children had twice the risk of premature death.
  • High blood pressure, along with high blood sugar, played a role in premature death, but not cholesterol or high blood pressure alone.
This study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Labels: obese-kids, death

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

Monday, December 10, 2007

4-year Old Dies from Obesity Complications

We hear the statistics about overweight and obese kids. We hear about the dangers - that childhood obesity can even be life-threatening. But we don't believe it until we hear a tragic story in which the very worst actually happened. The worst happened to Bonnie Zertuche, who lost her 4-year-old to complications caused by obesity.
"The jovial youngster stood 3-foot-6-inches tall. He weighed 120 pounds... Rolando went into cardiac arrest in a Corpus Christi hospital... The cardiac arrest sent him to San Antonio. There, the youngster went into a coma."
Bonnie says her son was born heavy. Obesity runs in her family, she says. But had she known it would cost her son his life, she would have been more persistent about changing his exercise and eating habits.

Labels: death, health_care, cardiovascular_disease

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments