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Obese children at risk of dying prematurely--study
by Jaspreet Virk - February 11, 2010 - comments
Parents need to ensure that their children are not engaged in passive activities at home like spending time in front of TV, computers, eating junk food etc.
New York, February 11 -- Obesity among children has always been a cause of concern as research has proved that it leads to health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure etc. Strengthening earlier studies done in the area, a recent study now states that obese children are more likely to die prematurely.
In a study named ‘Childhood Obesity, Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Premature Death’ published in the journal ‘The New England Journal of Medicine,’ the researchers have stated that obesity doubles the risk of death before the age of 55.
In order to conduct the study, researcher Paul Franks and his colleagues studied 4857 American Indian children without diabetes born between 1945 and 1984.
Over a period of time, the researchers studied if obesity, hyper tension, glucose intolerance, and cholesterol levels were associated with premature deaths.
Obesity linked to death due to endogenous causes
The findings of the study highlighted that during the period of 24 years, 559 of the 4857 participants died before the age of 55.
Out of the total, 166 died of endogenous causes, which included alcoholic liver disease, cardiovascular disease, infections, cancer, diabetes, alcoholic poisoning or drug overdose.
The researchers also divided the participants in categories depending on their body-mass index (BMI) and they found that children in the “highest quartile of age-standardized and sex-standardized BMI had significantly higher rates of death than did children in the lowest quartile.”
Overall, 1394 children (28.7 percent) developed obesity and among these children, the incidence-rate ratio for premature death from all causes was 1.31, death from endogenous causes was 1.90, and death from external causes was 1.14.
The researchers also found that apart from obesity, glucose intolerance and hypertension also led to premature deaths from endogenous causes.
Further, no link was found between cholesterol levels and premature deaths.
Tackling the obesity epidemic
The study only adds to the growing evidence against the dangers posed by obesity among children.
According to the data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 32 percent children and adolescent are obese and this problem costs the nation around $100 billion annually.
Realizing the dangers posed by obesity, the first lady Michelle Obama has already unveiled a campaign early this week to fight the problem, thus encouraging healthier lifestyle among children.
The campaign will focus on ensuring that there is healthier food in schools, more accurate labeling of food items in grocery stores, etc.
But the efforts should not end with the administration. Even the parents need to ensure that their children are not engaged in passive activities at home like spending time in front of TV, computers, eating junk food etc. Instead, they should be outside, running, jumping or engaging in outdoor sports to keep their weight in control.