New grim health picture painted for obese teenagers

A new study proves that teenagers with severe obesity are predisposed to health problems in adulthood, such as asthma, sleep disorders and kidney disease. According to the author of this study, Dr. Thomas Inge, professor of surgery and pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, situated in Ohio, overweight people are predisposed to develop diabetes or heart disease. However, for obese teenagers the list of future conditions in adulthood is longer. The results of this study are published in the journal Pediatrics. There were over 1,500 American adults with severe obesity involved in this study, aged between 19 and 76 years. The researchers discovered that at the age of 18 years, 42% of the adults had normal weight. 29% of the participants were already obese at 18 years, while 19% were severely obese at the same age. 96% of the participants had at least one condition. “As the number of children with severe obesity continues to increase, it is important for pediatricians to inform families about the short- and long-term health issues linked to this weight gain”, said Inge.