Do Fat Kids Have Higher Risk Of Heart Attack As Adults?

Childhood obesity has been a headache for many health experts and governments because it will definitely bring many medical disorders for those fat kids when they grow older.

As suggested by a study, fat kids are at higher risk of heart attacks as adults! Does this sound scary? Danish researchers from The Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen released their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine during December 2007. They indicated fat children have a higher rate of heart attacks when they become adults.

The study, which has generated interest, covered some 280,000 Danes. It showed that chubby, not just obese children are far more likely to suffer heart attacks as adults than thin kids are. For every 1-point increase in BMI, the risk of getting coronary heart disease (CHD) for fat kids from the ages of 25 to 60 goes up significantly.

What is CHD? It refers to angina or chest pains caused by blocked arteries, and a full-blown heart attack. It is one of the main causes of deaths. BMI stands for body mass index and it is measured by dividing weight (kgs) by the square of height (meter). Ideal BMI for children varies with age. A BMI of 23 is normal for a 15-year-old child but is considered overweight for a 10-year-old child.

In Singapore, out of the 50,000 fat children, nearly 1 in 10 has a significantly higher risk of suffering a heart attack when they become adults compared with their skinner friends. Despite the warning by doctors, the parents here think chubby is better. They seem more concerned about their skinny kids and just try to feed them up.

Obese children are at higher risk to all kinds of sicknesses like diabetes and hypertension. Many parents, however, just ignore such warning and put their children on calorie-fortified milk with a misconception that fussy eaters need to be a little chubby, which is a sign of healthy. This contributes to increasing obesity in children under 5 years old. Doctors are seeing more teens with high blood pressure and diabetes. Therefore, the best solution is to ensure the child is not fat in the first instance. Fat kids form 9.5 percent of schoolchildren in Singapore.

As iterated by doctors, it is critical that fat children cut their unhealthy food intake and exercise more. A survey conducted by the Health Promotion Board found that 29 per cent of children take at least 1 sweet drink a day, and only 19 per cent did some exercise 5 days a week.

Encouragement offered by parents, family and schoolteachers is what children require so that they can have a high degree of motivation and commitment to regular exercise and dietary prudence.

Singapore is replacing its 15-year-old Trim and Fit programme in schools in 2008 with a new healthy lifestyle programme, which will promote a child's social, mental and physical health.

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