Strong Link Between Childhood Obesity and Premature Death

According to government figures, 32 percent of American children and adolescents are overweight or obese.

The results of a recently concluded study on childhood obesity were published in The New England Journal. The results are troubling, but certainly not surprising.

Obese children have more than double the risk of
premature death due to natural causes.

The study found that the heaviest quarter of participants had more than double the risk of premature death due to natural causes – such as heart disease, cancer, alcoholic liver disease, diabetes and infections – than those whose body mass index put them in the lowest quartile of the population.

Parents should take note that when they take their children to the doctor for a check up, their child’s blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels can all be fine, but if their child is obese, it’s the obesity that needs to be addressed since this is the cause of premature death.

The researchers wrote: “Our observations, combined with those of other investigators, suggest that failure to reverse this trend may have wide-reaching consequences for the quality of life and longevity. Such evidence underscores the importance of preventing obesity starting in the early years of life.”

You can read the full story here: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/362/6/485