NoExcusesGym

    Obese children as young as 10 had the arteries of 45-year-olds and other heart abnormalities that greatly raise their risk of heart disease, say doctors who used ultrasound tests to take a peek inside.
About a third of American children are overweight and one-fifth are obese. Many parents think that “baby fat” will melt away as kids get older. But research increasingly shows that fat kids become fat adults, with higher risks for many health problems.
A separate study tied childhood obesity to abnormal enlargement of the left atrium, one of the chambers of the heart. Enlargement is a known risk factor for heart disease, stroke and heart rhythm problems.
Even at this young age of 10, you can have children who have got arterial stiffness who are comparable to 30- and 40-year-olds.

Dr. Michael Schloss, a New York University heart disease prevention specialist, said the evidence shows obesity is more than a cosmetic issue for children.

“If you’ve seen what’s on the menu for most school lunches, these findings are no surprise,” he said. “The time has come to seriously deal with the issue of childhood obesity and physical inactivity on a governmental and parental level.”

source: yahoo-news