Kids' Waist Sizes: Warning Sign?

Large Ones May Point To Syndrome That Causes Later Health Woes

(CBS)  The researchers analyzed data from 84 kids aged six to 13, of whom 68 were overweight or obese. They found children with abdominal obesity determined by a waist size above the ninetieth percentile of the study group had increased metabolic syndrome risk factors such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance and high cholesterol. The researchers say abdominal obesity may be an especially important risk factor for insulin resistance syndrome in children.

Kids with multiple risk factors are at much higher risk of disease later in life, Senay says. Experts believe if there is no intervention, it's likely many of these kids will go on to develop type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The goal is to see if this kind of early screening can be useful in targeting kids for lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise to avoid problems later in life.

The waist size study comes on the heels of another new study that shows tobacco smoke increases the risk for metabolic syndrome among teenagers.

The study, in the journal Circulation, found that six percent of teens aged 12 to 19 had metabolic syndrome, and that the numbers increased with exposure to tobacco smoke. In kids who were overweight, the numbers increased even more. Although it's not understood how tobacco smoke might contribute to metabolic syndrome, obviously we cannot forget the important effort to prevent kids from smoking and to protect them from second hand smoke.