The American Heart Association has added obesity and severe obesity in childhood and adolescence to the list of conditions that put children and teens at a greater risk for developing premature heart disease. This scientific statement was published in the journal Circulation.
Severe obesity is now considered a “moderate risk” condition and obesity an “at-risk” condition. Research shows these conditions significantly increase the odds of having heart disease later in life.
In addition to adding obesity to the list of conditions that put young people at an increased risk of heart disease, other changes include:
- The elevation of Type 2 diabetes to a high-risk condition because it is connected to other cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity.
- An expansion of the risks of premature heart disease related to childhood cancer treatments.
Researchers studied more than two million people over 40 years and found that the risks of dying from heart disease were two to three times higher if a person’s body weight as an adolescent had been in the overweight or obese category, compared to teens with normal weight.
