Today's youngsters may be the first generation of children to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents--and the reason is obesity. People don't die just from being overweight. They die from the many things that come with it. The majority of overweight children and teenagers already have at least one additional heart disease risk factor, and 25% have two or more. If they have three out of five major risk factors, they are said to have something called metabolic syndrome, a condition that has been identified as a significant marker for heart disease risk.
The five risk factors are high blood pressure (hypertension), high triglycerides, low HDL ("good" cholesterol), abdominal obesity and high fasting blood sugar. If you've got any three of them, you've got metabolic syndrome.
The best way to avoid metabolic syndrome is to concentrate on eating natural, whole foods. Fresh fruit is better than juice. Grilled chicken is better than breaded and fried chicken tenders. Water is better than soda. Nuts are better than chips. The less processed a food is, the more work the body does to digest the carbohydrate, leading to a less severe rise in insulin.
The best approach to decreasing metabolic syndrome may be prevention. Children should be encouraged to develop a healthy lifestyle that includes a quality whole-foods diet, regular physical activity and less sitting around watching television or playing computer games.
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