Kids and Metabolic Syndrome

There is new evidence that the growing problem of obesity among our youth is creating a very real health risk that was thought to exist mostly in adults. It's the kind of thing kids shouldn't have to think about- heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. But because so many of our youth are becoming overweight and obese, there is an increasing incidence of metabolic syndrome in children, with even the youngest of patients now facing cardiovascular concerns.

New research in the latest New England Journal of Medicine reveals that metabolic syndrome is not just an adult disease. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of factors that signify future risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Usually seen only in adults, there are now an increasing number of cases being reported of metabolic syndrome in children, because of changing lifestyles.

The symptoms of metabolic syndrome include obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a high triglyceride level, and a low HDL, or good cholesterol. The study shows that the fatter the child, the more likely he or she is to have metabolic syndrome. While the most recent national data showed just over a quarter of obese adolescents have metabolic syndrome, this new research shows that those who were most severely obese had a 50% chance of having metabolic syndrome. Dr. Ram Weiss of Yale University led the research. He says, "Obesity, specifically severe obesity greatly increases your risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in this age group. Obesity is new in this age group so making predictions about the risks of metabolic syndrome in children when compared to adults, is quite difficult." Also of concern was that blood levels of two factors now identified with cardiovascular disease, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6, were also elevated in the obese children. And the more obese the child, the more likely that he or she would be resistant to insulin- a sign of possible impending diabetes, which itself is a huge risk for cardiovascular disease.

The researchers believe the degree of obesity in children and adolescents has important clinical implications, because the risk of death from all causes among adults with severe obesity is twice that among moderately obese adults. Dr. Weiss states, "There is a strong possibility that Type 2 diabetes appears earlier in obese individuals. That is what we seeing in this age group now. This is something we've been seeing for the past two decades or so. Maybe cardiovascular disease is going to appear in very young adults in the near future. I believe that as a first step just preventing weight gain in a growing child will significantly reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome in children."

For more information on obesity, click here.