מתוך medicontext.co.il
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Young children who are in the highest percentile of height for their age are more likely than those in the lowest percentile to become obese adults, researchers report.
Although the reason why is unclear, the association may be related to maturity rates, suggests study author Dr. David S. Freedman, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Kids who are taller tend to mature earlier, and early maturing adolescents tend to be more at risk for obesity as adults," Dr. Freedman told Reuters Health.
While more studies are needed to confirm and explain the finding, Dr. Freedman said physicians may want to consider using height, in addition to weight and other measurements, when determining which youngsters need dietary modification and additional interventions to help prevent them from becoming obese in later life.
The researchers followed a group of 1055 children who were enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study, an ongoing study of heart disease risk factors among children and young adults in Louisiana. The children were examined between the ages of 2 and 8 years old and then again during adulthood, an average of 18 years later.
The results showed that tall height in childhood predisposed people to obesity in adulthood, according to the report published in the online edition of the February issue of the journal Pediatrics. For instance, compared with children who were below average in height, those who were the tallest–with height in the 95th percentile for their age–were 2.5 times more likely to become obese adults, as determined by body mass index (BMI) scores of 30 or higher.
In addition, the tallest children were five times more likely during adulthood to have a skin-fold thickness measurement that indicated excessive body fat, results showed.
Not surprisingly, overweight children were much more likely than thinner children to become obese adults. But even when the researchers accounted for obesity in childhood, they still found that height was an independent predictor of adult obesity.
Dr. Freedman suggests that "particular attention should be given to kids who are both obese and tall for their age."
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