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Obesity
in kids on rise Tribune
Staff Report Philadelphia Tribune - Apr 01 A recent
report noted that weight gain is associated with decreased physical fitness. Researchers
reported their findings during the American Heart Association’s 44th annual
Conference on Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology and Prevention. The
researchers referred to excessive weight gain during childhood as a “vicious
cycle” where children who lack physical activity are more likely to gain
weight, but the weight gain impairs a child’s ability to be active. “Obesity
in children has dramatically increased in recent years. At the same time,
physical fitness in children and adolescents has been declining,” said Maria Serrato,
M.D., lead investigator and an attending cardiologist at both the University of
Illinois at Chicago Medical Center and JHS Hospital of Cook County. “We are
also seeing the accelerated occurrence of type 2
diabetes in youth that once only occurred in adults.” Weight
gain that leads to obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes in adolescence.
Obesity can also increase the risk of early development of joint problems and atherosclerosis. The study
of 525 children (303 boys and 222 girls) aged 4 to 18 years, evaluated for
overweight or obesity to determine how it affects physical fitness in healthy
children. About 12 percent of the children had body mass indexes (BMI) above the
95th percentile for their age and gender and were considered obese. The majority
of these children were 30 to 40 pounds overweight. The
children’s endurance was tested by the Bruce treadmill protocol where they
walked on a treadmill at varying speeds and inclines. When a child grew too
tired, they stopped and left the treadmill. Obesity
had a significant impact on endurance for boys and girls at any age. The
researcher found that boys who were obese had two minutes less treadmill time
than non-obese boys. Obese girls had 1.5 minutes less treadmill time than
non-obese girls. The researcher found that maximum heart rates at peak exercise
were similar among the obese children and normal weight children. “Our
results indicate that obese children can be motivated to perform at the same
maximum heart rate of non-obese children,” Serrato
stated. She noted
that obese children reach maximum heart rate sooner since they are less fit. “Most
of the obese children in our study did not take gym nor did they participate in
physical activities. Once they become overweight, they are much less likely to
exercise,” Serrato said. She said
that children could be motivated through school or community center programs to
become more physically active. “If you
expose them to such programs they can rise to the occasion,”
she said. “The
results of weight loss and physical activity could be maintained through
adulthood with resulting decrease in cardiovascular risk factors.” |