Research Article Details
Article ID: | A46687 |
PMID: | 16532658 |
Source: | Future Child |
Title: | The consequences of childhood overweight and obesity. |
Abstract: | Researchers are only gradually becoming aware of the gravity of the risk that overweight and obesity pose for children's health. In this article Stephen Daniels documents the heavy toll that the obesity epidemic is taking on the health of the nation's children. He discusses both the immediate risks associated with childhood obesity and the longer-term risk that obese children and adolescents will become obese adults and suffer other health problems as a result. Daniels notes that many obesity-related health conditions once thought applicable only to adults are now being seen in children and with increasing frequency. Examples include high blood pressure, early symptoms of hardening of the arteries, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovary disorder, and disordered breathing during sleep. He systematically surveys the body's systems, showing how obesity in adulthood can damage each and how childhood obesity exacerbates the damage. He explains that obesity can harm the cardiovascular system and that being overweight during childhood can accelerate the development of heart disease. The processes that lead to a heart attack or stroke start in childhood and often take decades to progress to the point of overt disease. Obesity in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood may accelerate these processes. Daniels shows how much the same generalization applies to other obesity-related disorders-metabolic, digestive, respiratory, skeletal, and psychosocial-that are appearing in children either for the first time or with greater severity or prevalence. Daniels notes that the possibility has even been raised that the increasing prevalence and severity of childhood obesity may reverse the modern era's steady increase in life expectancy, with today's youth on average living less healthy and ultimately shorter lives than their parents-the first such reversal in lifespan in modern history. Such a possibility, he concludes, makes obesity in children an issue of utmost public health concern. |
DOI: | 10.1353/foc.2006.0004 |

Strategy ID | Therapy Strategy | Synonyms | Therapy Targets | Therapy Drugs |
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Diseases ID | DO ID | Disease Name | Definition | Class | |
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I16 | 6713 | Cerebrovascular disease | An vascular disease that is characterized by dysfunction of the blood vessels supplying the brain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebrovascular_disease, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK378/ | disease of anatomical entity/ cardiovascular system disease/ vascular disease/cerebrovascular disease | Details |
I05 | 9352 | Type 2 diabetes mellitus | A diabetes that is characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. A diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_2 | disease of metabolism/inherited metabolic disorder/ carbohydrate metabolic disorder/glucose metabolism disease/diabetes/ diabetes mellitus | Details |
I14 | 9970 | Obesity | An overnutrition that is characterized by excess body fat, traditionally defined as an elevated ratio of weight to height (specifically 30 kilograms per meter squared), has_material_basis_in a multifactorial etiology related to excess nutrition intake, decreased caloric utilization, and genetic susceptibility, and possibly medications and certain disorders of metabolism, endocrine function, and mental illness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity | disease of metabolism/acquired metabolic disease/ nutrition disease/overnutrition | Details |
Drug ID | Drug Name | Type | DrugBank ID | Targets | Category | Latest Progress | |
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D545 | Pig placenta extract | Biological extract | -- | -- | -- | Under clinical trials | Details |
D579 | Emfilermin | Miscellany | -- | adipocytes | Enhance lipid metabolism | Under investigation | Details |
D316 | S-adenosyl-L-methionine | Chemical drug | DB00118 | GNMT cofactor | Antiviral | Under clinical trials | Details |