Overweight Children Have Higher Rates of Arterial Stiffness; Childhood Obesity Increases Risk of Heart Problems and Type 2 Diabetes

A new study was conducted to identify the unknown effects of common obesity in children. Patients who are diagnosed with the disease were found with arterial stiffness as well as visceral fat. The evidence on obesity's corresponding impacts points towards the strong relation between overweight problems and cardiovascular diseases in kids.

Childhood Obesity: Arterial Stiffness and Visceral Fat

The University of Georgia recently investigated how obesity in children could target their heart organs and the whole cardiovascular system. To gather data for the case, the authors of the study examined the records of over 600 participants that belong in both the age groups of adolescents and young adults.

The main interest of the examination was the arterial stiffness and visceral fat in kids at an early age. Arterial stiffness is a strong type of cardiovascular disease where the heart organ's normal function to pump and distribute blood throughout the body is being pushed more than its limits. It exceeds the standard heart rate and blood pressure of a person.

Visceral fat is a type of fat commonly found in the abdomen, making the physical appearance of the stomach bloated and larger than its proportion to the body. Visceral fat is dangerous, as it could affect any nearby organs that serve the highest functions for the overall system of an individual.

Based on their findings, the experts confirmed that there are higher rates of arterial stiffness and visceral fat in children affected by overweight conditions. Among the suspected factors of the specified heart problems in kids with obesity is abdominal fat, which appears in almost every case.

Heart Problems and Type 2 Diabetes at an Early Age

University of Georgia's Department of Nutritional Sciences expert and author of the study Joseph Kindler said in a Hindustan Times report that as the arteries become stiff, the blood flow on the vessels throughout the body becomes faster than its normal current. When this happens, the cardiovascular system could be disturbed from its functions and possibly overstress the organs.

Kindler explained that the cardiovascular system issues in children with obesity could build up to consequential problems. Once the heart issues arise, it will produce a domino effect that would stumble to other body systems. The condition overtaxes other organs and may lead to uncontrollable diseases as well.

Cardiovascular disease in children had been studied before in pediatrics and cardiology. However, there are still limited data that defines the heart risks in children. Many studies today are being dedicated to identifying the challenges and underlying factors on the cardiovascular system of younger age groups that drive specific diseases and heart attacks during childhood and adolescence.

According to UGA, the study was made possible through the help of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry or DXA. This measuring technology could read and identify the body fats stored in the bodies of children. DXA is also a common medium in several fields of research such as hormone and bone studies.

Among the additional concerns that the experts have looked upon is the manifestation of type 2 diabetes in children at a young age. The condition was only detected in adults, but children had already gained a huge risk of the disease due to being overweight. Based on the examination of 145 participants, the authors noted that diabetes could affect the bones, brain, liver, and kidneys of younger children as opposed to the adulthood age group due to the developmental inflictions of the disease.

Experts believe that future studies will be met to determine how these cases can be prevented. The study was published in the journal Pediatric Obesity, titled "Visceral fat and arterial stiffness in youth with healthy weight, obesity, and type 2 diabetes."

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