Obese Children Risk Heart Disease
An as-yet-unpublished study led by Dr Geetha Raghueveer, from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, was presented at the recent American Heart Association conference in New Orleans. The researchers found that the artery walls of obese children and teens, or those who have high cholesterol, are as thick as artery walls in the average 45-year-old.
Although this study was small (involving 70 children between six and nineteen), it echoes the findings of other studies and the growing fears of doctors about increasing risk of heart disease resulting from childhood obesity. The New York Times explained that:
Scientists not involved in the study said the findings supported a growing body of research suggesting that childhood obesity in the United States was likely to result in heart disease as the children age.
If your child or teen is significantly overweight, or if they have a high cholesterol level, help them to make dietary changes now: this could minimise or even reverse the damage to the arteries. Dr Raghuveer was reported by the New York Times as saying:
A lot of these kids' arteries, even though they are in the early stages of atherosclerosis, are not hardened or calcified, not really advanced. There may be an opportunity to implement lifestyle alterations, be it exercise, be it diet, or perhaps even medication. Perhaps it may be reversed.
If you're looking for more guidance on keeping your child safe from future heart problems, the BUPA website has guidance on helping an obese child, and the Kids Health site explains about cholesterol and your child.
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I wonder how much of this has to do with less with being fat itself and more to do with the quality of our diet.
ReplyAccording to Barbara Kingsolver in her fascinating book: Animal, Plan, Mineral, (Harper Collins, 2007) there is a vast difference in the type of cholestrol that comes from pasture grazed cows than ones from the feedlot which have growth hormones and antibiotics pumped into them. Other research agrees that the only fats we really need be concerned about because they increase our bad cholestrol which clogs our arteries and is responsible for a myriad health problems:
saturated fats from unnaturally raised, antiobiotic and hormone-filled animals and
trans fats from unnaturally processed foods that increase our bad cholesterol which http://www.communityfood.com/articles/articles/3/1/Understanding-GrassFed/Page1.htm
Human Health Benefits
There’s a mounting pile of evidence that pasture-raised meat, eggs, and dairy products are vastly superior for our health than products from corn fed animals.
They are lower in calories and total fat, they have more vitamins and a better balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats.
And CLA (a “good” type of fatty acid) is way higher in both the milk and meat of pasture fed animals.
Free-range chickens have 21% less total fat, 30% less saturated fat and 28% fewer calories than their factory-farmed counterparts while their eggs have 10% less fat, 40% more vitamin A and 400% more omega-3's. (http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/pasture/) It amazing that we give them the same names when in reality their make-up really indicates they’re totally different products.
This is an abstract were they try to use CIMT to predict atherosclerosis. Now here's my problem with there findings ; this is the first time CIMT has been used on children they don't actually have anything to compare their results with yet their willing to say that it raises red flags ,how would they even now that.Furthermore what proof do the have to rebut research that shows CIMT to be ineffective in predicting coronary disease or any other disease for that matter.
This is just another case of the media picking up a story because it makes a good scary headline, not because it is built on sound science.
ReplyI understand your point about the science being flawed, but don't you think the results are still plausible.
I don't think it's such a stretch to assume that children who are obese will age more rapidly than children of normal weight.
And it doesn't seem like a stretch to say that kids who have problems with their cardiovascular system will likely have problems when they are older.
But I definitely hate when the media takes things out of context to make a headline.
ReplyDo you understand what this study was about? I don't believe that CIMT should be used to predict coronary problems in adults or children.
Kids who have cardiovascular problems as children are more likely too have those problems due to something other than weight.
ReplyThis is interesting. I'd heard that some kids have very high levels of cholesterol, but this is the first time I've heard of measuring the hardness of kids' arteries. Granted, they don't have anything to really compare the findings to, but if obese kids have arteries that are as hard as the arteries of a 45 year old, that can't possibly be a good thing.
ReplySpectra, the arteries aren't hardened their thicker; they make that distinction in the article.
ReplyIt's amazing that childhood obesity has become such an epidemic considering the resources available in both health, nutrition, and fitness education in most communities.
ReplyIf there is anyone out there that needs a heart surgery but cant afford it, go to www.amocare.com They have partnered with hospitals in the U.S. that preform the surgery for 70% off the cost.
ReplyThese studies were NOT on the coronary arteries as one commenter suggested, they were on the carotid arteries. This is not the full article. Check MSNBC for a full article that outlines more information.
By the way, just because a child is overweight does not necessarily mean that you should intervene. Do not place your child on a diet or strict exercise plan without proper permission from your child's doctor.
Not every child has these findings and this information is just being used to show the dangers it can possess to children in the long run should it happen into adulthood. Small lifestyle changes such as getting active for at least 60 minutes daily can make a huge difference.
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