Obesity cutting life expectancy for today’ youth
January 13th, 2011 - 6:27 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Jan 13 (ANI): Today’s youth regularly snack on junk foods, watch more television and are less active than their parents were.
So it was less shocking when a new research suggested that today’s younger generation would live shorter lives than their parents.
“Diseases such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions and joint deterioration - what were once considered ‘adult’ diseases - are regularly being diagnosed in children, due to the prevalence of obesity,” said Jessica Bartfield, weight loss specialist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of the Loyola University Health System.
“What is particularly tragic is that studies have suggested that obesity in children today may contribute to a 2-5 year decline in their life expectancy, shorter than that of their parents, due to obesity related diseases that are largely preventable,” she added.
She said the causes are ‘multifactorial, including environment and culture’. Genetics and parental weight status also plays a role.
“If one parent is obese, a child has a 50 percent likelihood of being obese, and if both parents are obese, that skyrockets to 80 percent likelihood,” she said.
Research by the Center for Disease Control found that 80 percent of obese children between the ages of 10-15 continue to be obese at age 25. (ANI)
- Your popular snack could be making you ill: Study - Mar 30, 2012
- Obese and overweight women, kids think they weigh less - Mar 24, 2011
- Kids sharing family meals less likely to binge - May 02, 2011
- Parents can motivate kids into shedding weight - Mar 15, 2012
- Sleep disorder linked to elderly men's blood pressure - Aug 31, 2011
- Breakfast is important, especially for teen mums and their kids - Feb 10, 2011
- Many obese kids in Britain facing strokes - Jun 12, 2011
- Parents with kids aged 18yrs or younger more likely to be obese: US study - Jun 26, 2010
- Severely obese women need to watch weight during pregnancy - Feb 12, 2011
- How social influences affect weight status in young adults - Jan 12, 2011
- Type 2 diabetes rising among kids: Experts - Nov 11, 2011
- Toddlers given milk at bedtime likelier to become obese - May 05, 2011
- Junk foods should be out of school canteens: NGO - Nov 09, 2010
- Childhood obesity comes from unhealthy lifestyle: Study - Feb 01, 2011
- Severely obese teens 'no more likely to be depressed' - Apr 22, 2011
Tags: adult diseases, center for disease control, deterioration, gottlieb memorial hospital, heart conditions, high blood pressure, junk foods, life expectancy, likelihood, loyola university health, loyola university health system, obese children, obesity in children, prevalence of obesity, skyrockets, snack, type ii diabetes, university health system, weight loss specialist, younger generation