Inactive kids face increased risk of metabolic syndrome by teens

Lack of physical activity and exercise as a child can put young children at an increased risk of developing heart disease later in life, a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill revealed Friday.

The study, titled "Adolescents with metabolic syndrome have a history of low aerobic fitness and physical activity levels," has found that the couch potato kids or kids who are physically inactive are five-to-six times more likely to be at potential risk of heart disease during the teenage years, compared to active kids.

The research, published Friday in the open access journal Dynamic Medicine, has shown for the first time that a child’s level of fitness and physical activity influence the heart disease factors, known collectively as Metabolic Syndrome (MS), in teenage years.

Metabolic Syndrome is a collection of medical problems related to insulin resistance, including obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension, lowered HDL cholesterol and elevated triglycerides. Together they are associated with an increased risk of Atherosclerosis -- the buildup of plaque in coronary arteries that leads to heart attack and stroke. Evidence of metabolic syndrome, a condition more commonly found in adults, includes diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

To reach their findings the lead author Robert McMurray and colleagues looked at nearly 400 kids aged between 7 and 10 in the state of North Carolina.

The researchers first evaluated each study participant's overall physical condition, considering their body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, height, blood pressure, obesity and cholesterol levels. Their average amounts of physical and aerobic activity were also taken into consideration.

After examining the study subjects seven year later, the researchers found that almost half of the teenagers had developed at least one characteristic of metabolic syndrome, like diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressure, and/or obesity. Also, 4.6 percent or 18 teenagers had developed three or more characteristics of metabolic syndrome.

The study concluded that risk of developing 3 or more of the characteristics of metabolic syndrome in kids with very low levels of exercise activity (less than 20 min per day of intense physical activity) increased nearly 500% to 600%.

“Children today live a very sedentary life and are prone to obesity. This is the first study to examine the importance of childhood fitness levels on your metabolism, as a teenager. Previously we didn’t know low fitness levels were an influence. It’s obvious now that there is a link and this is something which we need to pay attention to by encouraging our kids to keep fit, or suffer the consequences later in life,” Prof. McMurray concluded.

In order to minimize the future health risks, people need to pay attention to it by encouraging the kids to keep fit in childhood, so that they have a healthy future.