The news about excess weight in children is not optimistic, quite the contrary, the impact of childhood obesity in the child's future health would be worse than previously thought.
The findings are the result of more than ten years of research, according to which the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension and cholesterol, are already seen in children with obesity even from the age of five.
Oxford University scientists reviewed 63 published studies that involved almost 50,000 healthy children between 5 and 15 years of age, and found "tremendously worrisome" markers.
Obese children had significantly higher factors of hypertension, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and a thickening of the heart muscle when compared to children of normal weight.
They believe that until now, the effects of overweight on children, was underestimated, and that if nothing is done to reverse the disorders before they reach adulthood, obese children may have in their childhood between 30 and 40% more risk that your normal weight peers suffer from heart disease or cerebrovascular event in the future.
According to Dr. Carl Heneghan, one of the authors of the research, "the magnitude of the effect of obesity on the growing cardiovascular risk in children is deeply worrying in terms of their future risk of heart disease."
The good news is that still it is time to reverse the situation to protect the health of children, providing them with a healthy diet and encouraging the practice of exercise, among other fundamental keys to avoid childhood obesity.
