Obese children show early signs of heart diseases, articulated a study published in the Winter 2007 issue of the Journal of Cardiometabolic Syndrome. The study by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine revealed that such kids are at greater risk for complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, because obesity increases total blood volume, which leads to extra stress on the heart.

Angela Sharkey, M.D., associate professor of paediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine and a paediatric cardiologist at St. Louis Children's Hospital, said, "Based on this study, these subtle markers can help us predict who could be at risk for heart disease and heart attacks."

Sharkey and Steven M. Lorch, M.D., a former fellow at the School of Medicine now at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, studied data from 168 children ages 10 to 18 who had been referred to them for cardiac ultrasound with symptoms including heart murmur, chest pain, acid reflux or high blood cholesterol.

Based on CDC guidelines for body mass index for age (BMIA), 33 patients were found to have a BMIA as obese, or the 95th percentile or above for their age; 20 had a BMIA that classified them as at risk for obesity, or between the 85th and 94th percentile; and 115 were considered normal, or below the 85th percentile.panic disorder