CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 1 (UPI) -- Severely overweight children as young as 3 years can show indications of future heart disease, a U.S. study concluded.
The study, released Monday after publication in the journal Pediatrics, was carried out through examination of 16,000 children ages 1 to 17, nearly 30 percent of whom were overweight.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina said 40 percent of the 3-to-5 year olds determined to be obese had elevated levels of C-reactive protein. A high CRP level is considered a predictor of heart problems.
The CRP level, also an indication of inflammation in the body, was elevated in about twice as many of the younger obese children in the study compared to those at healthy weights. That difference grew to more than four times frequency in obese subjects ages 15-17.
"In this study we were unable to tease apart whether the inflammation or the obesity came first but one theory is that obesity leads to inflammation, which then leads to heart and vessel disease later on," said study co-author De. Eliana Perrin, who is with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School.
She added, "This study tells us that very young, obese children already have more inflammation than children who are not obese and that's very concerning."
