In past blogs, I’ve told you that the obesity epidemic among teens not only results in “Obese children showing signs of heart disease,” but that “Obese Children are Twice as Likely to Die Young.” New research is showing that it’s even worse than I thought.
The Washington Post reports that “teenagers who are overweight – or even just at the high end of normal weight – are at increased risk for developing heart disease when they become adults, even if they don’t grow up to be overweight,” according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers looked at data on “more than 37,000 teenagers,” and “found that the more they weighed when they were 17 years old, the greater their likelihood of having started to develop heart disease by the time they reached their 30s or 40s.”
CNN /Health.com reports that “the good news is that the same was not true of diabetes.” A man’s BMI as an adult, but not as a teen, was linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, so slimming down by eating right and exercising appears to go a long way toward preventing the onset of the disease, the researchers say.”
Nevertheless, for parents, helping our children make highly healthy decisions about sleep, exercise, and nutrition can be lifesaving for them.
If you’d like some help doing this, consider getting a copy of my book, SuperSized Kids: How to protect your child from the obesity threat.

The softcover (regularly $12.99) is on sale for $1.99 here and the hardcover (regularly $22.99) on sale for $3.99 here.