Childhood obesity linked to heart disease in adulthood

Heart problems later in life could be set in stone from childhood, with overweight and obese kids more likely to be at risk of developing cardiovascular disease well into adulthood.

Heart problems later in life could be set in stone from childhood, with overweight and obese kids more likely to be at risk.

A new study is looking at the impacts childhood obesity and factors such as diet, exercise and smoking while pregnant, have on developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The study, by researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, will look at “vascular ageing” — or the pace at which the heart ages — and determine if and how its onset is being caused early in life.

The aim is to establish a “healthy” rate of ageing, and use technology to develop a benchmark for identifying both good and bad heart health.

Using data from 100,000 people around the globe, lead researcher and post doctoral fellow, Dr Rachel Climie, hopes the results will set the standard for early detection and intervention.

She said at the moment, we are simply leaving it too late to intervene.

“We know that about 25 per cent of Australian children are overweight or obese,” Dr Climie said.

“We also know that children who have elevated blood pressure at age 10, they’re more likely to have high blood pressure as adults.

“Our blood vessels stiffen as we age — it’s part of the normal ageing progress — but some people who display early or premature ageing may have unhealthy or sedentary lifestyles, they might smoke, have high blood pressure — and sometimes it’s genetics.

“And we can expect this to carry into adulthood.”

Heart disease, heart attack and stroke remain the leading case of death in Australia, with one person dying from such causes every 12 minutes.

Dr Climie said this was in large part due to poor lifestyle choices — including a lack of exercise and bad diet — which could stem from childhood.

She added there was already evidence to suggest just how big an impact an unhealthy childhood could have on the heart.

“For example, being overweight in childhood can have detrimental effects on the heart if the weight is not normalised by age 13,” she said.

“And these statistics we’re seeing, that behaviour worsens.

“We try to intervene later in life, and try and change behaviour in adulthood but often that’s quite challenging because those behaviours are already set.

“But if we can understand what their risk is early in life we can intervene earlier.”

Dr Climie said the vascular ageing project is the first to look at ageing in younger populations and the largest of its kind.

It will include data from both healthy and unhealthy people aged 40 and under.

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Originally published as Childhood obesity linked to heart disease in adulthood