More than a third of all teens are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.
A recent study found that nearly one in ten teens - or one in four obese teens - already have a clustering of cardiac risk factors. It puts them at high risk for heart disease and diabetes.
This group of risk factors is known as metabolic syndrome. In adults, it includes increased waist size, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low levels of good cholesterol and glucose intolerance.
“We find it in kids and find it to be pretty frequent,” said Dr. Steven Cook. “But it's come with the obesity epidemic."
The national institutes of health tapped Dr. Cook and other obesity experts to define the metabolic syndrome for kids and teens. While the group hasn't reached a consensus, Cook says the study's findings are worrisome.
A recent study found that nearly one in ten teens - or one in four obese teens - already have a clustering of cardiac risk factors. It puts them at high risk for heart disease and diabetes. Diana Palotas has more.
"It is teens. But some would argue that half these kids physiologically are adults. Not from a maturation standpoint but from a physiologic standpoint. It is concerning," said Cook.
Cook says the obesity epidemic may be a reason for a rise in heart disease among younger men. In data from 2002, the heart attack death rate for men age 35 to 45 increased, while it decreased for everyone else.
“It's also from a time frame where smoking went down a lot but obesity went up. And so the concern is that men age 35 to 45 in early 2000 were children or were born around the time the obesity epidemic started to rise," said Cook. The study also found these risk factors cluster in families, so kids with metabolic syndrome tend to have a parent who has a similar profile or vice versa.
But there's hope the damage of metabolic syndrome can be reversed in teens and adults. The approach isn't a magic pill, but rather lifestyle changes for the whole family.
“Everyone has their role around. Someone is going to work on getting the family to eat more fruits and vegetables. Someone is going to decrease the amount of TV. Someone is going to work on being more active and walking," said Cook.
If you do have a child who is overweight and their doctor is worried their cholesterol is high or blood pressure a little high, getting them more active, improving their diet - even if their weight doesn't change much - is going to help these heart disease risk factors get better too.