The overweight and obesity crisis is reaching epidemic proportions around the world. Worldwide, children are becoming heavier at younger and younger ages.
Results of a pair of new studies investigating the health effects of being overweight during childhood projects alarming increases in the rates of heart disease and premature death by the time today's teenagers reach adulthood.
Based on the numbers of overweight children in 2000 , the study found that up to 37% of males and 44% of females will be obese when these children turn 30 years old in 2020. As a consequence of this obesity, these young adults are expected to have more heart attacks, more chronic chest pain and more deaths before they reach age 50.
The model also estimated more than 110,000 extra cases of heart disease by 2030, which is a 16 percent increase over today's figures, and a rise in obesity-related CHD deaths by as much as 19 percent.
Being overweight or obese puts you at risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other ills.
So, think twice and eat once…
