Childhood Obesity Increases Heart Disease Risk

With childhood obesity on the rise, scientists are studying the effects of weight on heart development in young children. A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007 shows that body mass index "rebound age" in children can determine the future risk of heart disease.

The study was conducted at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and looked at children from the age of three through the age of seven. More than 300 children were involved in the study, nearly divided in half between girls and boys. A large portion of the children involved in the study were Caucasian. This is the first study to look at body mass index (BMI) rebound age, which is the age at which a person has their lowest BMI.

The Cincinnati Children's Hospital study shows that the younger the age at which the lowest BMI is reached, the more danger that child will be in for heart disease and other cardiovascular issues later in life. Most healthy children have low BMIs, which indicates that their body weight is in the proper and healthy proportion to their heighth.

This means that the younger the child is when their BMI starts to increase, or in other words when the child starts putting on more weight that is needed for their heighth, the more danger they will be in for that extra weight to start causing health problems. The study shows that those children that start adding extra, unneeded pounds before the age of four will be at a higher risk for such issues as high blood pressure and high insulin levels, which can lead to diabetes. The extra weight can also have serious consequences on the physical growth of the heart.

The children in the study fell into three categories so as to determine health risks. Normal BMIs were in the 25^th to 75^th percentile range. Below the 25^th percentile meant the child had an "early BMI rebound age." If above the 75^th, the child had a late rebound age.

BMI rebound age in the 25^th percentile was between 4.2 for girls and 4.4 years of age for boys. So children that experienced their lowest BMIs before those ages were considered to have an "early BMI rebound age." The 75^th percentile ages are 5.7 years for girls and 6.6 years of age for boys, so any child that saw their BMI increase after those ages fell into a "late BMI rebound age." The study also shows that BMI rebound ages are typically younger for girls than boys.

The lead author of the study, Jennifer Jaworski, stated that she and her colleagues found "significant" differences in health indicators between those children in the 25^th percentile and those in the 75^th percentile. The senior researcher involved in the study, Thomas R. Kimball, M.D., added that the study shows that doctors should start measuring BMI in children as young as three, as an added tool to help parents keep their children healthy. He said in the American Heart Association press release, "The crux of the matter is when these habits are set in childhood, they are difficult to break."

Source: American Heart Association