Study Shows Hardening of Arteries in Obese Children

Obese children as young as seven years old already have the beginnings of artery disease, Italian and US researchers reported recently. They found signs that the carotid arteries of 100 obese children were already becoming thick and stiff, as well as indications that the children may have a higher risk of diabetes.

"You can see vascular changes already this early in really obese children," said Dr. Maurizio Trevisan of the University at Buffalo in New York, and study leader. "We know that obesity in childhood increases the risk of atherosclerosis and death in adulthood," he added. "It is important for parents of obese children to help their children control their weight and get early treatment for these obesity-associated risk factors."

Trevisan, Dr. Archangelo Iannuzzi of Cava de' Tirreni Hospital in Salerno, Italy, and colleagues report their findings in the October issue of Diabetes Care. In this study they screened 100 children aged 6 to 14 who were brought to a clinic in Naples because they were overweight. They compared the overweight children to 47 of normal weight. On average, the obese children had higher insulin resistance -- a measure of tendency to diabetes -- than children of normal weight. They also had higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Ultrasound scans showed the obese children had thicker and stiffer carotid arteries. "In adults, arterial thickening has been shown to be a precursor of arterial narrowing and to predict clinical coronary artery disease," Trevisan told Reuters. An estimated 15 percent of U.S. children are overweight or obese and the obesity incidence for children in many European countries is also increasing. The study shows that obesity acts quickly to damage the arteries of children and that parents and doctors need to act quickly to protect them, the researchers said.

Sources: Reuters, Sept. 28, 2004; Diabetes Care, Oct. 2004

# # #