Study: Tween girls at risk for fatness

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As if being a tween is not hard enough, scientists now call the years between 9 and 12 a time when girls are especially at risk of getting fat.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

Girls are more likely to become overweight in those preteen years than when they are teenagers, researchers report Monday in The Journal of Pediatrics.

The study did not say why that was and did not examine boys to know whether they face a similar risk.

But it did highlight consequences of that adolescent weight gain. Chubby tweens already were seeing their blood pressure and cholesterol levels inch up, backing up earlier research that fat's toll on the arteries begins early. Also, being overweight in childhood brought more than a tenfold risk of a youngster's growing into a fat adult.

Parents should pay attention to creeping waistlines and poor dietary habits, particularly in this age group, said Dr. Denise Simons-Morton of the National Institutes of Health, which funded the research.

"It seems to be a particularly vulnerable period," said Simons-Morton, who heads obesity-prevention efforts at the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Some 17 percent of U.S. youngsters are obese and millions more are overweight, a problem affecting all ages. Overweight children are at risk of developing diabetes and they grow into overweight adults who, in turn, develop heart disease and other ailments.

The study tracked more than 2,300 white and black girls starting at age 9. Researchers measured height, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol every year through 18. Participants were called in their early 20s to check their weight.

Some 7.4 percent of the white girls and 17.4 percent of the blacks already were overweight by 9. Each year through age 12, between 2 percent and 5 percent of the remaining girls became overweight, reported Douglas Thompson of the Maryland Medical Research Institute, the paper's lead author.

After the girls reached 12, new cases leveled off to between 1 percent and 2 percent a year.

Other research has shown that the preteen years are when youngsters switch from heeding parents' dietary advice to eating like their friends do, Simons-Morton said. Less physical activity plays a role, too. She recalls from her own daughters' tween years long sedentary hours on the phone and worries about getting sweaty.

"It should be cool to be physically active, and attractive," she said.

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On the Web:

NIH parents tips for fighting child obesity: http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov

[Ban Hammer 14,418]

oooo fat chicks

[Joey559 1]

Wasn't there JUST a report last week saying tween/teenage girls who read women's magazines follow diet advice, take it too far and are more at risk for eating disorders? Man, how many studies are out there??? When did it become so darn hard to be a kid? I always think I'd do being a kid over again, but hell no, not in 2007! Yikes...

[Alex+R 0]

Wasn't there JUST a report last week saying tween/teenage girls who read women's magazines follow diet advice, take it too far and are more at risk for eating disorders? Man, how many studies are out there??? When did it become so darn hard to be a kid? I always think I'd do being a kid over again, but hell no, not in 2007! Yikes...

I feel like it was the same when I was a kid. I don't think this situation for tweens and teens is any different than it has been since the early 80s at least. I hated being a kid! I'm so glad that's over. I can't wait til I'm 30.

[CarolineM 0]

shouldn't it be fat with a "PH"??

Phatness?

[Ban Hammer 14,418]

Wasn't there JUST a report last week saying tween/teenage girls who read women's magazines follow diet advice, take it too far and are more at risk for eating disorders? Man, how many studies are out there??? When did it become so darn hard to be a kid? I always think I'd do being a kid over again, but hell no, not in 2007! Yikes...

I feel like it was the same when I was a kid. I don't think this situation for tweens and teens is any different than it has been since the early 80s at least. I hated being a kid! I'm so glad that's over. I can't wait til I'm 30.

just remember - the older you get, the closer you get to that 70 year old guy you always talk about and one day, it will be rey

[Fandango 1,440]

Parents need to stop doing the fly-by parenting of Lunchables and Lil Debbies and all the sugar-filled products and start taking an active handle on making children eat healthily.

AND stop lettin the kids waste away with gaming systems and inactivity

shouldn't it be fat with a "PH"??

Phatness?

No, that would be a good thing

[CarolineM 0]

I think that the whole segment of that McDonalds documentary about schools and nutrition was really interesting...and true!

Example - all of our schools here in Jax have a contract with Pepsi. The ONLY drinks allowed to be sold here are pepsi products..so our kids are guzzling down sodas and "juice" which has just a smuch sugar as a soda!!

The lunchroom is horrible..the "free lunch" stuff is somehwat nutritious but NO ONE wants to be caught dead eating that so they go to the pizza, fries, bbq...all that stuff and NEVEr is salad offered or veggies or anything. It's all processed, eetc.

It's scary!

[heishe 2]

Speaking of fatness, I just had the most awesome burger. Quality beef, bacon and bleu cheese with yummy veggies and freshly cooked fries, not overseasoned. So good. SO GOOD. It makes me want to scream. I feel so satisfied right now.

[Ban Hammer 14,418]

Speaking of fatness, I just had the most awesome burger. Quality beef, bacon and bleu cheese with yummy veggies and freshly cooked fries, not overseasoned. So good. SO GOOD. It makes me want to scream. I feel so satisfied right now.

i can hear your arteries hardening all the way over here.....

[almaty 19]

Speaking of fatness, I just had the most awesome burger. Quality beef, bacon and bleu cheese with yummy veggies and freshly cooked fries, not overseasoned. So good. SO GOOD. It makes me want to scream. I feel so satisfied right now.

i can hear your arteries hardening all the way over here.....

a heart attack on a paper plate

[heishe 2]

Speaking of fatness, I just had the most awesome burger. Quality beef, bacon and bleu cheese with yummy veggies and freshly cooked fries, not overseasoned. So good. SO GOOD. It makes me want to scream. I feel so satisfied right now.

i can hear your arteries hardening all the way over here.....

a heart attack on a paper plate

It was only 1/3 pound, and the plate was glass!

[almaty 19]

Speaking of fatness, I just had the most awesome burger. Quality beef, bacon and bleu cheese with yummy veggies and freshly cooked fries, not overseasoned. So good. SO GOOD. It makes me want to scream. I feel so satisfied right now.

i can hear your arteries hardening all the way over here.....

a heart attack on a paper plate

It was only 1/3 pound, and the plate was glass!

hmm.. steak and shake...

[Fandango 1,440]

Speaking of fatness, I just had the most awesome burger. Quality beef, bacon and bleu cheese with yummy veggies and freshly cooked fries, not overseasoned. So good. SO GOOD. It makes me want to scream. I feel so satisfied right now.

i can hear your arteries hardening all the way over here.....

a heart attack on a paper plate

It was only 1/3 pound, and the plate was glass!

hmm.. steak and shake...

Stop it all of you! I'm dieting!!! AND HUNGRY!

[Ban Hammer 14,418]

Stop it all of you! I'm dieting!!! AND HUNGRY!

run mimi!