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Exercise
May Reverse Heart Disease in Fat Kids
Many studies have shown that children across the industrialized
world are getting fatter -- and that even toddlers are showing
early signs of heart disease such as high cholesterol and
the beginnings of clogged arteries.
But several researchers told a meeting of the American Heart
Association in Orlando that parents can safely do something
about it.
In Britain, Canada and the United States, around 15 percent
of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.
Daniel Green of the University of Western Australia tested
35 obese children aged 6 to 16.
In his study group the younger children weighed an average
of 140 pounds (63 kg), versus 64 pounds (29 kg) for the
average lean child in the same age group.
The teens were on average 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed
212 pounds (96 kg), as compared to 126 pounds (57 kg) for
average teens the same age.
He used a test of vascular endothelial function -- it looks
at the inside of the blood vessels. "This is a test
that detects the first development of atherosclerosis,"
Green told a news conference.
Many of the children already had unusual signs suggesting
that they were in the early stages of arterial disease.
Other studies have shown that such children go on to develop
visible symptoms 30 to 40 years later.
WEIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM
For the teens, Green put together an eight-week weight training
program. "Their total body weight didn't change,"
he said. But the children lost body fat and replaced it
with lean muscle mass, measurements showed.
"In young children it is a little bit trickier because
they don't want to push weights in a gym. They want to run
around in a field," Green said. "It was essentially
fun and games."
Both groups had tended to hang back in school physical education
programs, but threw themselves wholeheartedly into Green's
program, he said.
In both groups, total blood cholesterol levels did not change,
but both groups had improved endothelial function.
After eight weeks of exercising three times a week for an
hour each time, the children were allowed to go back to
their sedentary ways. Two months later, Green tested their
blood vessels again.
"The improvements we saw with exercise had reverted
back," he said. "The bad news is you have to keep
on doing it. The good news is it has a good effect."
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
Net Reference 89
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