By 2035, there will be a double digit increases in cases of heart disease and heart-disease related deaths because of the prevailing high rate of obesity among US teenagers. This was revealed in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 6, 2007.
The researchers from the University of California at San Francisco and Columbia University Medical Center used computer modelling and projected that up to 37 percent of men and 44 percent of women who will be 35 in the year 2020 will be obese, based on the numbers of teenagers who were overweight in 2000.
In comparison with previous generations, these young adults will have more heart attacks, more chest pain and more premature deaths before the age of 50. By 2035, the number of people with heart disease is estimated to increase by 16 percent over today's levels. That is an additional 100,000 cases. According to projection, the increase in obesity-related heart disease deaths could shoot up by as much as 19 percent.
Based on the data from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are some 9 million US adolescents are overweight. In fact, the childhood obesity rates have tripled since the 1970s, and studies show that about 80 percent of overweight adolescents become obese adults. We all know that we tend to gain weight as we age, and overweight adolescents will tend to gain more than others later on.
The results are not surprising but the sheer magnitude of the impact of adolescent obesity has definitely made it a public health priority. The findings also suggested that aggressive medical treatment using traditional blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering drugs would only reduce but not eliminate the projected cardiac complications.
The researchers from the University of California at San Francisco and Columbia University Medical Center used computer modelling and projected that up to 37 percent of men and 44 percent of women who will be 35 in the year 2020 will be obese, based on the numbers of teenagers who were overweight in 2000.
In comparison with previous generations, these young adults will have more heart attacks, more chest pain and more premature deaths before the age of 50. By 2035, the number of people with heart disease is estimated to increase by 16 percent over today's levels. That is an additional 100,000 cases. According to projection, the increase in obesity-related heart disease deaths could shoot up by as much as 19 percent.
Based on the data from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are some 9 million US adolescents are overweight. In fact, the childhood obesity rates have tripled since the 1970s, and studies show that about 80 percent of overweight adolescents become obese adults. We all know that we tend to gain weight as we age, and overweight adolescents will tend to gain more than others later on.
The results are not surprising but the sheer magnitude of the impact of adolescent obesity has definitely made it a public health priority. The findings also suggested that aggressive medical treatment using traditional blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering drugs would only reduce but not eliminate the projected cardiac complications.
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