Identifying Children at Risk for Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease

In Brief Critical periods for the development of childhood obesityhave been established. Health care providers should recognize these periodsfor initiation of interventions to prevent obesity because treatment optionsonce obesity occurs are limited. Greater body weight predisposes children tomany of the medical complications of obesity found in adults, includinghypertension, dyslipidemia, impaired glucose metabolism, and hyperinsulinemia.Race, genetic predisposition, sedentary lifestyle, duration of overweight, andunderlying conditions are major determinants of risk for type 2 diabetes andcardiovascular disease (CVD). However, not all adolescents with thesecharacteristics share a similar risk for developing these conditions. Theappropriate risk stratification for adolescents could guide clinicians inrecognizing overweight youth who are at higher risk of developingpre-diabetes, diabetes, or CVD and lead to a prompt intervention.