Weight had always been a concern for people Overweight children who shed their excess pounds in adulthood don\'t face a higher risk of obesity-related health problems, an analysis of four studies involving children and adults in the United States, Australia and Finland has concluded.
The findings don\'t prove weight loss in itself will eliminate the extra risks, but they mean overweight or obese children are not automatically destined for higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
\"There is hope for overweight and obese children,\" chief author Dr. Markus Juonala at the University of Turku stated in a telephone interview. \"If they manage to become non-obese adults, then the risks of these outcomes -- diabetes, hypertension, early atherosclerosis -- are quite similar to those who have been normal weight all their lives. I think that\'s quite a positive message.\"
In the United States, about one out of every six children and adolescents is considered obese.
The report in the New England Journal of Medicine combined data from four studies that followed more than 6,000 children for an average of 23 years.
\"It\'s been thought that if you\'re an obese kid, it\'s all done,\" said Juonala. \"But based on these findings what really matters is what you are at as adult.\"
The researchers just observed what happened over time and did not test whether actively bringing down a child\'s weight can stave off health problems later on. But the results suggest that \"there\'s time and opportunity for intervention to help those children who are overweight and obese,\" Juonala said.
At the start of the studies, 12 percent of the children were overweight or obese, and two percent were obese. By adulthood, those figures had leapt to 55 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
The analysis also confirmed what doctors have known for years: being an overweight adult increases your risk of various health problems.