Childhood Obesity and Premature Death in Adulthood

Recently the New England Journal of Medicine released a study on the correlation of childhood obesity and premature death. Closely studied were two groups of Native Americans that were chosen for the study due to their increasing incidence of obesity and type two diabetes long before that of the general population. Over 4800 individuals were tracked from 1945 through 1984. They were followed from childhood through adulthood by researchers from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The study suggested that individuals suffering from obesity as a child are two times as likely to die prior to reaching the age of 55.

Results of this study showed that obesity can adversely affect many different body systems that can in turn lead to death. Individuals that are obese put themselves at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine disease as well as musculoskeletal disorders. While all and any of these conditions make living a normal and functional life almost impossible, a few conditions were closely linked to premature death. The cardiovascular disease known as hypertension or high blood pressure and the endocrine disorder known as diabetes mellitus (type II) in association with childhood obesity were shown to be the leading causes of premature death in adulthood.