The health risks associated with childhood obesity are well-documented and well-known. What many parents don't know is how much simple dietary changes can reduce a child's risk of becoming obese.

"In Philadelphia, five schools revised their cafeteria menus. They got rid of the sodas and replaced them with water, low-fat milk and 100 percent fruit juice. They also made sure that the snacks in the vending machines and cafeterias met certain nutritional requirements. Parents were also encouraged to give their children more fruits and vegetables."

A team of researchers then tracked Philadelphia students from fourth through sixth grade. They found that twice as many students became obese in the schools that did not revise their menus and snacks. Source: OnHealthyLiving.com.

Labels: diet, health_risks, nutrition

Two new studies linking overweight in childhood with adult heart disease gives "a frightening glimpse of what we have in store," according to David S. Ludwig of Harvard Medical School.

The studies are the first to confirm that children who are overweight have a significantly higher risk of developing heart disease as adults. These conclusions are important because the percentage of overweight children in the United States has tripled since 1976 and now numbers over nine million.

Researchers from the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen, Denmark, examined the height/weight charts of more than 276,000 Danish children between 1955 and 1960, and then looked through hospital records from 1977 to 2001 to find the ones who had been hospitalized for heart disease.

"Even a few extra pounds put a child at risk," said Jennifer Baker of the Copenhagen Institute.

If the child lost weight before age 13 years and remained at normal weight, his chances of developing heart disease returned to normal.

A second study from the University of California at San Francisco produced similar results using U.S. federal statistics.

"Overweight children are losing their childhood," said Melinda Sothern, and expert on childhood obesity at Louisiana State University. "They can't do the same types of activities as healthy weight children. Now they will lose their early adulthood as well."

Labels: activity, health_risks, quality_of_life

Concern over the health impacts of obesity is not new. But the focus is usually on issues like diabetes and heart disease. The most recent issue of Orthopedic Nursing turns its focus to obesity's effects on the musculoskeletal system.

"Pearson-Ceol's literature review (p. 289) on the effects of obesity on the knee joint reveal the increase of osteoarthritis in the knees of obese patients and believes that future nursing research is indicated for improving this problem. Looking at the problem of how obesity is related to the health of the hip… and to the spine… also reveals that increased weight impacts and affects other areas of the body."

Many who are dangerously obese turn to bariatric surgery (an operation that reduces the size of the stomach), but studies have shown that patients also lose bone density, which can be a dangerous trade-off.

Labels: bone_density, health_risks, weight_loss_surgery

For 40 years, the number of children and teenagers with high blood pressure and prehypertension remained relatively unchanged. But beginning in 1988, rates began a steady increase.

"For instance, from 1988 to 1994, 2.7% of kids and teens studied had high blood pressure and 7.7% had prehypertension. From 1999 to 2002, the percentage of kids with high blood pressure had risen to 3.7% and the percentage with prehypertension had reached 10%"

The high blood pressure and prehypertension rates began increasing in conjunction with childhood obesity. Rebecca Din-Dzietham, MD, PhD, MPH warns that, if the higher rates are not reversed, there could be an "explosion" of cardiovascular disease in young adults.

Labels: blood_pressure, cardiovascular_disease, health_risks

A recent study has discovered a link between gestational diabetes and obesity. Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (CHR) in Portland, Oregon found the onset of gestational diabetes during pregnancy significantly increases the child's risk of becoming obese if the diabetes isn't treated.

"Hillier and colleagues analyzed the medical records of 9,439 women who gave birth between 1995 and 2000 in Portland, Ore., Washington State and Hawaii. They discovered that tots of pregnant women with untreated high blood sugar levels were 89 percent more likely to be overweight and 82 percent more likely to be obese by the ages of five to seven years... than were children of moms without gestational diabetes."

Teresa Hillier, the study's lead author, advises pregnant women to make sure their ob-gyn is screening for blood sugar levels and that women diagnosed with gestational diabetes stick to their treatment program. Read more at SCIAM.com.

Troubled teen boarding schools, like Excel Academy in Texas, offer help for children struggling with emotional and behavioral issues like substance abuse.

Labels: diabetes, health_risks, research

A recent study lead by Professor John Morrison at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center shows that overweight children with high cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar levels are at an increased risk for heart disease or strokes.

"But losing weight significantly lowered health risks. 'This indicates [the risk of heart disease and stroke are] not hard-wired. Some clearly are more susceptible, but susceptibility isn't the same as inevitability,' says William Dietz, who heads the division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The condition that Morrison studied is called pediatric metabolic syndrome, and is indicated by the presence of at three of the following factors: excess weight, low HDL (the good cholesterol), high triglycerides, high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels. Morrison found that weight was the key driver of the condition. Read more at LangingStateJournal.com.

While being overweight or obese isn't healthy, neither is teenage drug addiction. Learn what signs to look for at Adolescent-Substance-Abuse.com.

Labels: genetics, health_risks, heart_disease