Fat Kids Become Fat Adults
January 6, 2005
By Miranda Hitti
The battle for a healthy weight starts at a tender
age. Overweight children are more likely to become fat
adults, and the trend can start as young as ages 2-5.
The finding is reported in the Jan. 1 issue of the
journal Pediatrics. It's based on a study of more than
2,600 kids raised near New Orleans and followed since
the early 1970s.
The data cover almost 18 years and gave the researchers
a long-term look at weight and fat patterns.
As kids, the participants' BMI was calculated, and
their arm fat was measured with skin fold calipers.
BMI is an indirect measure of body fat.
Distinguishing between BMI and skin fold fat let the
researchers take participants' natural builds into account.
The process was repeated many years later, when the
kids had become young adults.
Extra fat and excess weight often lingered well beyond
childhood.
Even the youngest kids were affected. The most overweight
2- to 5-year-olds — those whose BMI was greater
than 95 percent of children their own age — were
more than four times as likely to be too fat as adults.
"A child with high BMI for age is much more likely
to become an obese adult than is a relatively thin child,"
say the researchers, who included the CDC's David Freedman,
PhD. "Overweight children have a greatly increased
risk for becoming overfat adults."
Childhood BMI may also predict future heart disease.
Overweight children may be more likely to have their
arteries harden (atherosclerosis), say the researchers.
Source:www.cbsnews.com
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