A study from the University of Rochester Medical Center has found that abdominal obesity increased more than 65 percent among U.S. children between 1988 and 2004. This finding is significant because abdominal obesity has emerged as a better predictor of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes risk than the more commonly used Body Mass Index (BMI), a weight to height ratio that can sometimes be misleading.
As the first nationally representative study to document the increase in children’s belly fat, the study published in the journal ‘Pediatrics’ paints a bleak picture for these children who have a higher risk of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Increases in BMI scores have been raising concerns about the short and long term health of children throughout the developed World, but the increase in the rates of abdominal obesity in children appears to have been even more pronounced. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2004, the percentage of 6 to 11 year old children with high BMI scores rose about 25 percent. But the increase in abdominal obesity of the same group over the same period was more than 35 percent.
The good news is that, for children and adolescents, the health effects are often reversible through improved lifestyle for weight loss. Study author Stephen Cook, M.D., an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester, said that the study should be a warning for physicians and parents to limit sedentary activities, such as TV and computer time, and to teach and model healthy eating and exercise behaviors.
“Kids, teens and adults who have early stages of atherosclerosis in their arteries can have a healthy cardiovascular system again,” said Assistant Professor Cook. “Older adults who have plaque build up have a much harder battle, especially if the plaque has calcified.”
Measuring waist circumference is not a “vital sign” normally taken in a visit to the doctor. A BMI is commonly calculated, but there are limitations to those measurements. A very muscular person may register a high BMI score, even if s/he is very healthy and has an average waist circumference. Whereas, a sedentary child may not register a very high BMI score even though they are carrying a lot of fat around their abdomen putting them at a higher risk for health problems.
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