Childhood obesity can lead to heart disease, heart muscle abnormalities: researchers

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Childhood obesity has been so prevalent in the past 30 years that obesity among children has doubled, and quadrupled among teens, the CDC reports. In fact, over one-third of children in the United States alone were obese or overweight as of 2012. The culprit, researchers believe, is french fries, which amounts to 25 percent of a child's vegetable intake, and fruit juice, which is commonly high in sugar and low in fiber, Eurekalert reports. The lack of physical activity and too much time playing with tech gadgets is also seen as a contributing factor to a child's deteriorating health.

According to CBS News, a new study presented at the annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida show how children as young as eight years old show signs of heart disease due to obesity.

"It is both surprising and alarming to us that even the youngest obese children in our study who were 8 years old had evidence of heart disease," study lead author Linyuan Jing, a postdoctoral fellow with Geisinger Health commented. "Ultimately, we hope that the effects we see in the hearts of these children are reversible. However, it is possible that there could be permanent damage."

Researchers compared 20 obese children against 20 kids who had a normal weight and found that obesity was linked to 27 percent more muscle mass in the left ventricle of their hearts and 12 percent thicker heart muscles, which are both signs of heart disease. The 40 children underwent magnetic resonance imaging to enable researchers to measure the function and dimension of their hearts.

Among the participants, 40 percent were considered at high risk for heart problems because the thickened muscle in the heart may encounter problems with pumping blood. While none of the children showed physical symptoms of heart disease, researchers warn that if they do develop heart disease at a very young age, this may lead to complications in adulthood and premature death.

Jing recommends that parents take a more proactive role in limiting time spent on computers and video games, and encourage more physical activities. She said, "This should be further motivation for parents to help children lead a healthy lifestyle."

Jing added, "Schools and communities need to do a better job at educating both the parents and children about the health risks of overweight and obesity."

WebMD reports that Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles who was not involved in the study, commented that the findings are "alarming" and that "substantially increased efforts are needed to prevent and treat childhood obesity."