Obese Kids, Heart Disease Link Found

CHICAGO (AP) â€” Overweight children as young as 8 have been found to have a smoldering type of bloodstream inflammation that in adults has been linked to heart disease. <br><br>The new study may help

Tuesday, January 9th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) â€” Overweight children as young as 8 have been found to have a smoldering type of bloodstream inflammation that in adults has been linked to heart disease.

The new study may help explain why people who were overweight as children run a higher risk of cardiovascular problems and diabetes in adulthood, regardless of their adult weight.

The study, published in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, is the first to link childhood weight and inflammation. The research was led by Marjolein Visser, an epidemiologist from Vrije University in Amsterdam.

The researchers looked at 3,561 U.S. children ages 8 to 16 and found that overweight youngsters were three to five times more likely than those of normal weight to have inflammation, as marked by the presence of a substance called C-reactive protein, or CRP, in the bloodstream.

Dr. Michael Steelman, past president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, a group of doctors specializing in obesity, said the finding is a major reason for concern.

``When we can start documenting the physical changes occurring at that age, it's just like a time bomb just below the surface of their skin that's going to go off someday,'' Steelman said.

The study does not address whether inflammation in children poses any short- or long-term risks. But Visser said previous research has linked elevated CRP levels in overweight adults with the development of heart problems.

In Visser's study, 7 percent of the boys and 6 percent of the girls showed signs of CRP inflammation. Elevated white blood cell counts, another sign of inflammation, were also far more common in overweight children.

Previous research has suggested that elevated CRP levels may stem from artery inflammation during the early stages of heart disease. The body may respond to plaque buildup the same way it responds to infection â€” by releasing disease-fighting cells that cause inflammation.

Aspirin, because of its blood-thinning properties, is sometimes recommended for adults at increased risk of heart disease. But because aspirin is also known to reduce inflammation, some experts have suggested this benefit may be the real reason it helps reduce the risk.

Visser said the findings are too preliminary to recommend aspirin for overweight children with elevated CRP levels.

``If the relationship between obesity and elevated CRP levels is causal, weight loss would be the recommended treatment for overweight children,'' said Visser, who worked with the U.S. National Institute on Aging on the study.

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On the Net:

Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org

American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org/Heartâ€”andâ€”Strokeâ€”Aâ€”Zâ€”Guide/inflamm.html