By Alan Sinaiko, M.D.

Children today eat more, exercise less, and are more overweight than adolescents a decade ago. What's most troubling about that is that many of these youth could be tomorrow's heart attack, stroke, or diabetes patients.

It's well documented that a healthy diet, combined with regular exercise, is key to reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. What's also becoming clear is that healthier lifestyles can also reduce risks of acquiring Type 2 Diabetes, which also has been called adult-onset diabetes.

Ongoing University of Minnesota studies conducted our group have shown that Minneapolis schoolchildren, age 13 to 15, studied in 1996, on average, were heavier and had higher blood pressures than their predecessors in 1986. As part of this study in children we also are measuring "insulin resistance," or the inability of muscle tissue to take up glucose. We're trying to determine the relationship among high blood pressure and cholesterol and obesity, three factors that make up the "Insulin Resistance Syndrome." We know that insulin resistance is associated with the development of Type 2 diabetes.

What we have found is that by age 13, higher insulin resistance is already associated with higher cholesterol levels, higher blood pressure, and total body fatness. This is important because we know that obesity is associated with the development of Type 2 diabetes and we know that there is an increasing incidence of Type 2 diabetes in children.

So, why is the rate of teen obesity increasing? Start with fast food large French fries, bacon double-cheeseburgers, and supersize sodas. Results from a recent study by Simone French, a researcher in our School of Public Health, show what we all suspect: Consuming fast food is linked with a diet that is lower in nutritious foods such as milk, fruit, and vegetables and is higher in fat and calories. Not surprising, but it marked the first time that comprehensive data were compiled on Minnesota children.

Lack of exercise is another reason why children today are more overweight. Schools don't offer as many physical activities as they used to and children aren't getting exercise at home either. Instead television, video games, and the Internet are drawing their attention.

As parents, what can we do? Start by limiting your children's access to high-fat foods. Encourage them to put down the joystick and remote control and go outside to play. Ride a bike or take a walk with your kids. Enroll them in a swimming class or soccer club. Give them fruits to snack on at home and school instead of cookies.

These are simple tips that can help you and your family lead healthier lives. But having said that, there's more we need to understand about obesity. The fact is we're just getting around to studying it in children.

We do know that obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol track from childhood to adulthood. But we need to better understand why some people tend to put on more weight than others. By doing so, doctors in the future can develop better intervention methods in helping youth and adults deal with obesity. Eventually, through more research, we should be able to identify people who are

at risk early in their lives so we can develop intervention strategies and prevent the high incidence of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes.

Alan Sinaiko is a professor of pediatrics in the University of Minnesota Medical School. This column is an educational service and advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional.

For more information about obesity in children, contact the Pediatric Weight Management Clinic at University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview. 

Health Talk & You is an educational service of the University of Minnesota. Advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional. For more health-related information, go to www.healthtalk.umn.edu. 
 
Used by permission from the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center; for more news or information about the health sciences at the U, go to www.ahc.umn.edu.