While being overweight in adulthood and during middle-age is known to be a risk factor for heart-disease, a recent study highlights the danger of being overweight even as teenagers or adolescents leads to similar risk factors.
Abdominal fat can be either visceral (deep) or superficial (just under the skin). The former is much more deadly than the latter since it surrounds the major organs in the abdominal area and restricts the flow of blood to and from these organs. Swedish researchers determined that among about 600 men they studied, those whose Body mass index (BMI) increased most during adolescence also had the most visceral fat which could lead to type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes or heart disease later on in life.
Being overweight in childhood, however, did not lead to visceral abdominal fat but mostly to the superficial variety which is not as dangerous:
The findings suggest that preventing excessive weight gain in adolescence, in particular, may help control visceral fat accumulation later on, according to Dr. Jenny M. Kindblom and her colleagues at Gothenburg University.
So even if childhood BMI is high, Kindblom told Reuters Health, there may be benefits to preventing further increases during adolescence. [MSNBC Health]
The last line above could be the biggest takeaway from this study: It is never too late to lose weight and, for that matter, never too early either.
