Children who are overweight are already showing signs of future heart disease when they hit 15 or 16, according to the first study of its kind. Being overweight or obese aged nine to 12 leads to a higher chance of displaying risk factors - including high blood pressure and high cholesterol - at age 15 or 16.
The study, of more than 5,000 children, investigated blood pressure, glucose and insulin levels, and cholesterol. At the start of the study, when the youngsters were aged nine to 12, 19% of the sample were overweight and another 5% were obese.
Researchers, led by a University of Bristol team, found that those children who were still overweight when they reached 15 or 16 were more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high insulin levels - all risk factors for heart disease.
At this age, 29% had high systolic blood pressure (pressure exerted when the heart beats) and 3% had high diastolic blood pressure (pressure between heart beats). But those youngsters who lost weight before they reached 15 or 16 had less risk, particularly if they were girls.
"Girls who favourably alter their overweight status between childhood and adolescence have cardiovascular risk profiles broadly similar to those who were normal weight at both time points," the experts said.
"But boys who change from overweight to normal show risk factor profiles intermediate between the normal at both ages and overweight at both ages."
The research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), is the first of its kind to investigate the link between body mass index (BMI) at ages 9 to 12 and then heart disease risk factors aged 15 to 16.
The experts found a large waist circumference and high body fat mass were also correlated to increased risk, regardless of BMI.
Source: Press Association
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