Obesity Can Affect Heart Health in Children Up to 6 Years-Consumer Health News

Wednesday, May 4, 2022 (HealthDay News)-As early as 6 years old, new studies suggest that children with extra weight may be on the path to future diabetes and heart disease. I am.

The studyOf the approximately 1,000 children in Denmark, overweight children often had elevated blood sugar and insulin by school age. They also had higher triglycerides (a type of triglyceride) than their peers, but had lower blood levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

However, these differences were not clear among overweight preschoolers.

Researchers said the findings emphasize the importance of a healthy preschool diet and physical activity before the effects of overweight begin to occur.

But no one is pointing their finger at their parents. According to experts, childhood obesity is complex and often intertwined with social factors beyond the control of the family, such as affordable health foods and lack of safe places for children to physically work. ..

“Parents want the best for their children. They want their children Nutritious food“. Amy Yaroch, executive director of the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, a non-profit research institute in Omaha, Nebraska, said.

“But what you want the best and what you can offer is two different things,” added Yaroch, who was not involved in the study.

In general, Americans live in societies that make healthy eating and exercise difficult. Above all, we are surrounded by the marketing of delicious and attractive convenience foods.

In fact, fast food stores are much more abundant than grocery stores, said Amanda Steiano, a childhood obesity researcher who wasn’t involved in the study.

And for low-income families, the fight can be particularly tough.

“Most of this comes down to income, resources, time and stress,” said Staiano, head of the Institute for Childhood Obesity and Health Behavior at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Fortunately, there are national programs that have been shown to improve dietary quality for preschoolers and school-aged children. Women, infants, children (WIC) provides nutritional support to low-income women with young children and offers a national school lunch program.

“I think the school breakfast and lunch programs have improved significantly,” Staiano said.

In fact, she added that excessive weight gain often occurs during the summer when children are absent from school.

Compared to their school age, early childhood has traditionally received less attention when it comes to obesity prevention and management, both Staiano and Yaroch said. But it’s changing.

Yaroch pointed out a program called a government-funded program. National Early Care and Education Learning CollaborativeIs practiced in many states of the United States, promoting healthy eating and exercise, and reducing “screen time” in a child-rearing environment.

“Year 0-5 is the time to establish taste preferences and behaviors,” said Yaroch. “And the sooner you can intervene, the better.”

In a new study, researchers at Holbeck, Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark tracked 335 preschool children aged 6 to 8 and 657 school-aged children. 90th percentile of age and gender. (In the United States The 85th percentile is considered overweight).

On average, school-aged children with extra weight had higher blood glucose and insulin levels than their classmates. This indicates that they may be on track for type 2 diabetes. They also had higher levels of triglycerides and lower levels of cardioprotective HDL cholesterol. And a year later, the proportion of overweight school-aged children rose to 17%.

The study, led by Dr. Christine Frithioff-Bøjsøe, was published online in the journal on May 3. Obesity research and clinical practice.. THis findings were presented at the European Parliament on Obesity in Maastricht, the Netherlands.