The study titled "Childhood Overweight and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: The National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute Growth and Health Study" will be published in the January issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.  It was funded by NHLBI, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.  

The study suggests that girls as young as age 9 who are overweight are at increased risk for problems that increase the chances of developing cardiovascular disease including hypertension, high cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting insulin levels.

In the study, researchers followed more than 2,300 girls ages 9 and 10 including 1166 Caucasian and 1213 African-American girls for more than ten years for their height, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol annually through age 18, and obtained self-reported measures at ages 21 to 23.

The girls were more than 1.6 times more likely to become overweight during ages 9 to 12 years than in later adolescence, according to the researchers.  Girls who were overweight were also more likely to have elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels compared to those who were not overweight.

Additionally, girls who were overweight during childhood were 11 to 30 times more likely than non-overweight girls to be obese in young adulthood (ages 21 to 23), the results of the study show.

The risk of becoming overweight and obese during young adulthood was different between African-American girls and Caucasian girls. Black girls were 1.5 times more likely to become overweight at any given age than white girls.  The prevalence of overweight among black girls was 17 percent at age 9 and 24 percent at age 18.  In comparison, the prevalence of overweight among white girls was 7 percent at age 9 to 10 percent at age 18.

"In 1999, 13% of children aged 6 to 11 years and 14% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States were overweight. This prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past 2 decades," the General Surgeon states on its website regarding overweight in children and adolescents.

"Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese. Overweight or obese adults are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer," the General Surgeon says.

The results of the study suggest that measures need to be taken to tackle the overweight problem as early as possible.   "This (study) shows that obesity and other risk factors for heart disease track from younger to older. This is a wake-up call for policymakers, for schools, for parents," Arlene Spark, associate professor of nutrition at Hunter College, in New York City was quoted by healthday.com as saying. "The success rate for treatment is practically zero. The only thing that we can really hope for is that we can prevent children from becoming overweight and obese."

Sue Y. S. from the University of Pittsburgh and her colleagues examined all the possible factors including socioeconomic, demographic, psychosocial and cultural factors, body dissatisfaction, dietary Intake, dietary patterns and dieting practices, and physical activity. They found risk of becoming overweight is determined by a range of factors.

They presented the report titled "What We Know about Obesity Development During Adolescence: Findings from the NHLBI Growth and Health Study" at Predictors of Obesity, Weight Gain, Diet, and Physical Activity Workshop, Bethesda, MD, August 4-5, 2004.

Although many factors affect the risk of becoming overweight at young age, there are only two controllable factors that have a direct impact on the risk. They are dietary practice and physical activity, which determine the energy intake and expenditure and the risk of weight gain or loss.

But what can children and adults do to prevent becoming overweight or obese?

The U.S. General Surgeon offers the following suggestions cited in verbatim.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

• Let your child know he or she is loved and appreciated whatever his or her weight. An overweight child probably knows better than anyone else that he or she has a weight problem. Overweight children need support, acceptance, and encouragement from their parents.
• Focus on your child's health and positive qualities, not your child's weight.
• Try not to make your child feel different if he or she is overweight but focus on gradually changing your family's physical activity and eating habits.
• Be a good role model for your child. If your child sees you enjoying healthy foods and physical activity, he or she is more likely to do the same now and for the rest of his or her life.
• Realize that an appropriate goal for many overweight children is to maintain their current weight while growing normally in height.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Be physically active. It is recommended that Americans accumulate at least 30 minutes (adults) or 60 minutes (children) of moderate physical activity most days of the week. Even greater amounts of physical activity may be necessary for the prevention of weight gain, for weight loss, or for sustaining weight loss.
• Plan family activities that provide everyone with exercise and enjoyment.
• Provide a safe environment for your children and their friends to play actively; encourage swimming, biking, skating, ball sports, and other fun activities.
• Reduce the amount of time you and your family spend in sedentary activities, such as watching TV or playing video games. Limit TV time to less than 2 hours a day.

HEALTHY EATING SUGGESTIONS

• Follow the Dietary Guidelines for healthy eating (www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines).
• Guide your family's choices rather than dictate foods.
• Encourage your child to eat when hungry and to eat slowly.
• Eat meals together as a family as often as possible.
• Carefully cut down on the amount of fat and calories in your family's diet.
• Don't place your child on a restrictive diet.
• Avoid the use of food as a reward.
• Avoid withholding food as punishment.
• Children should be encouraged to drink water and to limit intake of beverages with added sugars, such as soft drinks, fruit juice drinks, and sports drinks.
• Plan for healthy snacks.
• Stock the refrigerator with fat-free or low-fat milk, fresh fruit, and vegetables instead of soft drinks or snacks that are high in fat, calories, or added sugars and low in essential nutrients.
• Aim to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Discourage eating meals or snacks while watching TV.
• Eating a healthy breakfast is a good way to start the day and may be important in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

IF YOUR CHILD IS OVERWEIGHT

• Many overweight children who are still growing will not need to lose weight, but can reduce their rate of weight gain so that they can "grow into" their weight.
• Your child's diet should be safe and nutritious. It should include all of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamins, minerals, and protein and contain the foods from the major Food Guide Pyramid groups. Any weight-loss diet should be low in calories (energy) only, not in essential nutrients.
• Even with extremely overweight children, weight loss should be gradual.
• Crash diets and diet pills can compromise growth and are not recommended by many health care professionals.
• Weight lost during a diet is frequently regained unless children are motivated to change their eating habits and activity levels for a lifetime.
• Weight control must be considered a lifelong effort.
• Any weight management program for children should be supervised by a physician.