Pediatrics Offers Studies on Overweight Children

Overweight children are three to five times as likely as normal weight children to have a "bloodstream inflammation that in adults is linked to heart disease," according to a study in this month's Pediatrics. The inflammation is marked by elevated levels of C-reactive protein in their bloodstream. Researchers at Vrijie University in Amsterdam studied 3,561 U.S. children ages 8-16 and found that 7% of boys and 6% of girls showed signs of CRP inflammation. Previous research has suggested that high CRP levels may be caused by artery inflammation in the early stages of heart disease (Tanner, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/9).

A second study in Pediatrics found that overweight girls as young as five often suffer from low self-esteem, and parental concern about children's weight and eating habits can make the problem worse, according to Pennsylvania State University researchers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The study included 197 five-year-olds and their parents (FitzGerald, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/9). Researchers found that overweight girls were dissatisfied with their bodies and their intellectual ability. Girls whose fathers worried about their children's weight were more likely to view themselves as "physically inept," while girls whose mothers were concerned with children's weight were unhappy with both their physical and intellectual ability. And girls whose parents restricted access to certain foods were more likely to view themselves as physically and intellectually inept (BBC News, 1/9)

Meanwhile, a Brigham and Women's Hospital study, also appearing in Pediatrics, found weight concerns among children who were not overweight. Researchers followed the diet and weight attitudes of 12,057 children ages 9-14 in 1996 and 1997. At the beginning of the study, 9% of girls and 4% of boys had "extreme weight concerns." Over the course of the study, an additional 6% of girls and 2% of boys became "highly weight conscious" (Tanner, AP/Hartford Courant, 1/9). Researchers found that parental attitudes toward dieting and weight, such as a mother's constant dieting, were a factor in children's concerns. In addition, children who desired to look like celebrities were more likely to focus on weight concerns (Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/9).

In other obesity news, Dr. John Himes, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, found that nearly 25% of women in their 50s have so much body fat that it cannot be measured through the use of skinfold calipers. Skin calipers, which became a popular tool for obesity researchers in the 1950s, can measure skin folds up to 2.6 inches. However, Himes studied data from a 1994 national nutrition study and found that about 25% of women in their 50s had to be classified as "greater than caliper." In an interview, Himes "laments" that the study not only highlights the "epidemic of obesity" but marks the "loss of a useful research tool." The study is published in the January issue of the American Journal of Public Health (Grady, New York Times/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1/9).