Signs of heart disease found in obese children

A Canadian study has found that obese children commonly have stiff blood vessels - an indicator of heart disease that is usually seen in much older adults.

Scientists at BC Children's Hospital assessed 63 children who were obese and 55 who were a normal weight, with an average age of 13 years.

Participants had their blood pressure taken and provided blood samples so that their lipid levels could be measured.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

They also had images taken of their heart and blood vessels.

Researchers found that the obese children tended to have normal blood lipid levels and only slightly elevated systolic blood pressure readings.

However, when the scientists calculated the youngsters' pulse wave velocity - a measure of how fast the blood flows through a major artery called the aorta - they found that it was typically abnormal in the obese youngsters.

Dr Kevin Harris, who presented the findings at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, revealed that the elastic qualities of the obese children's aortas were impaired.

'We were surprised to find that these obese children already have stiff blood vessels,' he admitted, adding that aortic stiffness 'is associated with cardiovascular events and early death'.

Figures from the 2008-09 National Child Measurement Programme show that 18.3 per cent of ten and 11-year-olds in England are deemed to be obese.ADNFCR-554-ID-800154955-ADNFCR

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
More From Wellbeing