Obesity has been growing rapidly in the adult population of many western nations for some years now and is officially at epidemic proportions. This is worrying enough in itself, but of much more concern perhaps should be the increasing incidence of obesity in adolescents and even younger children. In the United States today obesity is seen in more than 15 percent of teenagers and this figure is rising steadily.



So just what are the risks from obese teenagers?

The risks in teenagers are very much the same as those seen in adults and include sleep apnea, high blood pressure and the development of coronary diseases amongst other things. However, most importantly, obesity in your teenage years can actually lead to your premature death.

In 1989 the National Institute for Health funded a study designed to follow the health of a large group of young women over an extended period and to look, amongst other things, at diet and lifestyle risks. More than 100,000 women (employed as nurses across the United States in states including California, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and others) between the ages of 24 and 44 were enrolled into the study.

All of those taking part in the study completed a comprehensive questionnaire at the outset, which included details of their medical history and such things as their weight during their teenage years, and were then closely monitored over a 12 year period.

During the period of the study a total of 710 of the participant died and when the researchers studied these deaths they discovered that there was a connection between obesity in these women in their teenage years and premature death. Indeed, the study showed that women who were obese as teenagers were at three times more risk of premature death than those of normal weight.

Today a great deal of attention is being focused upon finding a solution to the growing problem of obesity and this is quite rightly creating considerable research into the problem itself. As each day passes we are beginning to understand the risks of obesity more and more and the figures being produced by a whole range of studies make quite frightening reading.

Let us hope that it is not too long before we find a solution and reverse this rising trend in obesity.