HHS HealthBeat (April 4, 2008)

Overweight teen trouble

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Metabolic syndrome is bad in adults, and researchers think it could be bad in teens.

Metabolic syndrome includes overweight, high blood pressure, and bad cholesterol and blood sugar readings. And while scientists haven’t agreed yet on what could constitute metabolic syndrome in teens, they do know trouble when they see it.

Stephen Cook of the University of Rochester served on a National Institutes of Health panel on defining metabolic syndrome in kids. He has a report in the Journal of Pediatrics:

``If you take the adult definition of metabolic syndrome and apply it to obese teens, 25 percent of them met the adult criteria.’’ (6 seconds)

And in adults, metabolic syndrome raises the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Cook says kids at risk need to control their weight – preferably with their families, because family efforts are more often successful.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011