Your Overweight Child and the Risk of Disease

If you child or adolescent is obese or overweight, he has a higher incidence of having a number of serious medical problems, including

• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Abnormal lipid levels
• Metabolic syndrome (A condition of insulin resistance associated with high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, obesity, and in some cases, liver disease and menstrual irregularities in girls)
• Type 2 diabetes (once called adult-onset or non–insulin-dependent diabetes)
• Asthma
• Sleep apnea (repeated disruption of normal breathing during sleep)
• Skin infections (eg, fungi trapped in folds of skin)
• Pain in the knee, thigh, and hip (often associated with a condition called slipped capital femoral epiphysis)
• Back pain
• Liver disease
• Gallstones
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Menstrual abnormalities (eg, irregular or missed periods, known as polycystic ovarian syndrome)
• Severe headaches with visual disturbances