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Nearly one in five American children
grew big enough around the middle to be considered abdominally obese by
2004, a 65 percent increase in belly fat since the 1990s, according to a
new study published in U.S. Tuesday.(File Photo)
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>>> BEIJING,
Nov. 7 (Xinhuanet)-- Nearly one in five American children grew big enough
around the middle to be considered abdominally obese by 2004, a 65 percent
increase in belly fat since the 1990s, according to a new study published in
U.S. Tuesday.
Belly fat is more dangerous for health than overall
weight gain in any age, especially in children. It predicts very high chances
for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes risk, the study said.
Different from cutaneous fat, which is found below
the skin, visceral fat is located deep in the abdomen and surrounds our vital
organs. It is metabolized by the liver, turns into cholesterol and circulates in
the bloodstream.
Belly fat is becoming a more reliable sign of future
health problems, rather than Body Mass Index, a weight to height ratio, which
can sometimes be misleading. For example, a child may not register a very high
BMI score, but if he carries a lot of fat around his middle, he may be at a
higher risk for health problems than other children with the same BMI score, the
study said.
However, it added, the good news for children and
teenagers is they can restore their long-term health outlook much more
effectively than older adults if they make some adjustments to their lifestyles.
"Kids, teens and adults who have early stages of
atherosclerosis in their arteries can have a healthy cardiovascular system
again," said Stephen Cook, M.D., an assistant professor of Pediatrics at the
University of Rochester Medical Center's Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong
and author of the study about childhood abdominal obesity.
"Older adults who have plaque build up have a much
harder battle, especially if the plaque has calcified."
Cook said there is no gold standard yet for how waist
circumference should be measured and no consensus yet on the cut-off point for
abdominal obesity.
Previous studies have found that people who eat a lot
of saturated fats have a higher risk of building up undesirable amounts of
visceral fat.
Other studies have indicated that inactivity
significantly raises the risk of visceral fat build-up.
(Agencies)
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