Obese children who have big bellies are more vulnerable to heart disease, just like heavy adults.
Obese children who have big bellies are more vulnerable to heart disease, just like heavy adults.
A large waist circumference is a well-established risk factor for heart disease and type 2 diabetes in obese adults. To study whether the same might be true for children, researchers looked at 188 healthy but obese American children aged between 7 and 11 years. Thirty-five of the children were severely obese, while 119 had waist circumferences above the 90th percentile for children their age and sex.
It was found that compared with children with smaller waists, children with large waists were 27 times more likely to be severely obese, 3.6 times as likely to have low levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol, 3 times as likely to have high triglycerides, and 3.7 times as likely to have high fasting insulin levels.
The above findings establish obesity as a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes in children. Checking waist circumference in obese children could be an effective way to identify those at higher risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
The researchers recommended that obese children should try losing belly fat by eating less and exercising for keeping heart troubles and diabetes at bay.
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