Sharp increases in child obesity foreseen: studies

By Gene Emery

BOSTON (Reuters) - The number of obese children will grow dramatically in the coming years and so will their death rates from heart disease, according to a pair of studies from the United States and Denmark published on Wednesday.

"If we don't take steps to reverse course, the children of each successive generation seem destined to be fatter and sicker than their parents," said David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston in a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, where the studies appear.

The Danish study, which tracked more than one quarter of a million school children in Copenhagen from 1930 to 1976, found that overweight children grew up to have more heart problems, particularly the boys.

The heavier they were as youngsters, particularly entering their teens, the greater the risk.

For example, a 13-year-old boy who was 25 pounds (11.2 kg) above the average weight was found to be 33 percent more likely than a child of normal weight to have a heart attack or some other problem caused by coronary heart disease (CHD) by age 60.

The finding "suggests that more children than ever before are facing increased risks of CHD in adulthood," said the team led by Jennifer Baker of the Center for Health and Society in Copenhagen.

About 17 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls now in the United States -- more than 9 million total -- are overweight.

The second study reported that out of this group, 25 percent of the boys now are obese, and that number is expected to increase to 30 to 37 percent by 2020, when they turn 35.