The pandemic has increased childhood obesity. As per a recent study published by the University of Georgia, obesity can impact a kid’s cardiovascular systems presently and in the future. The research was published in the ‘Pediatric Obesity Journal’.The study assessed abdominal visceral fat levels and arterial stiffness in roughly 600 children, adolescents, and young adults. Visceral fat is the fat found in the abdomen that enters vital organs. Arterial stiffness compels the cardiovascular system to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. The researchers discovered considerably higher levels of visceral fat and arterial stiffness in the overweight youth, implying that abdominal fat contributes to cardiovascular problems in kids. The stiffer the artery, the faster blood is going to move through those blood vessels, and that can be detrimental and overstress our system,” explained Joseph Kindler who is a corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of nutritional sciences in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.”
Experts are concerned of the rising obesity levels among children and adults
As these issues build up, unfortunately, it’s a type of this game of dominoes. You tip one over, and the rest of the systems start being overtaxed. That’s when pervasive health issues can occur,” he stated. Research on cardiovascular risks in youth is limited, but researchers speculate that the negative alterations to the cardiovascular system that lead to disease and heart attacks likely start in childhood and adolescence. The researchers employed technology known as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXA so that they could measure levels of body fat in children. It’s a method generally utilized in the fields of bone and hormone research. And it’s coming to be more prevalent in body fat research because it provides scientists with the same information as traditional scans. However, it’s faster, less costly, and doesn’t need large doses of radiation like other scans do. They also assessed the time it took for participants’ blood to make it from the central part of the body to the lower limbs, a basic way of examining arterial stiffness.
