9781422288450

Fifteen-year-old Becky is getting her physical for summer camp. She’s not very concerned, although she knows her doctor will want her to lose weight. Since the onset of puberty, Becky has gotten pretty chubby. She’s already clinically overweight and quickly approaching obesity. Patiently waiting for the doctor to finish taking her blood pressure, Becky becomes concerned when he pauses and then without a word takes her blood pressure again. “Have you noticed any dizziness recently?” her physician inquires as he finishes the second test. I wonder what this is all about, Becky puzzles. “No, not really,” she replies. “Well, your blood pressure is pretty high,” the doctor continues. “High enough that we need to do something about it.” High blood pressure! Becky can’t believe it. That’s for old people! Perhaps you, like many people, believe high blood pressure is an adult con- cern, nothing children or teens need to worry about. If you do, you’re dead wrong! According to a study printed in the journal Hypertension , the number of children and teens sent to the hospital for high blood pressure has been risen in recent years. Lifestyle choices and excess fat seem to be the direct causes. Fast-food and junk-food diets, plus hours each day on the computer or in front of the TV equals weight gain in the form of adipose tissue. America’s children are getting fat. Being overweight or obese at any age courts many kinds of cardiovascu- lar disease, not just high blood pressure. The CDC reports that 70 percent of youth that are obese have at least one risk factor for heart disease. That’s alarming when you consider that one in three Americans is obese, and more than one in two is at least overweight. Even more alarming, the American Heart Association estimates approximately 300,000 people in the United States alone die of weight-related heart issues each year, making obesity the second most prevalent preventable cause of death. Exactly how does excess fat cause cardiovascular disease? One way has to do with structural changes that occur in the heart as a person gains weight.

44 / Health Issues Caused by Obesity