Teenage Obesity Is a Ticking Time Bomb

The American Heart Association's warning last week that more children than ever are heading toward heart trouble is primarily due to the nation's &to=http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/14706_christmas.html' target=_blank>obesity epidemic.

But the damage caused by too much weight isn't limited to the heart.

In its annual assessment of cardiovascular disease, the top killer in the United States, the AHA reported that about 1 million children between 12 and 19 years old, or about 4.2 percent, now have metabolic syndrome. This is an umbrella term for a host of controllable risk factors for heart disease such as abnormal blood lipids, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and overweight or obesity.

However, those same teens may also be flirting with another health condition called &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/07/08/31965.html' target=_blank>insulin resistance, which is also marked by obesity. Insulin resistance is closely related to a condition called Syndrome X and to metabolic syndrome. In fact, all three terms are so similar they are often used synonymously.