Childhood obesity increases the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hypertension and heart disease in a new study from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine..

The results of this work were published in the online publication PLOS ONE.

High blood pressure and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are considered problems associated with the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. NAFLD is characterized by impaired accumulation of fat in the liver.

Nearly 10% of children in the US have this chronic disease..

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common chronic liver disease in America.. NAFLD is most common among overweight children and adolescents.. It may be associated with diabetes mellitus and other metabolic diseases..

The Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network of the US National Institutes of Health conducted a study of 484 children and adolescents aged 2 to 17 years with NAFLD. The researchers monitored the children's blood pressure at baseline and 48 weeks later..

At the start of the study, about 36% of participants had high blood pressure.. After 48 weeks, 21% of the group remained above normal blood pressure.. It turned out that in children with obesity, hypertension is detected 5 times more often than in children with normal weight..

The authors report that obese girls had a significantly higher risk of hypertension than boys..

Blood pressure monitoring 'should be part of holistic care' Study lead author Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer, head of pediatrics at UC-San Diego School of Medicine, commented on the results: 'All obese children have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.. However, we found that children with NAFLD and high blood pressure had higher liver fat deposits than other children.. This can lead to more serious liver problems."

Dr. Schwimmer and colleagues recommend making blood pressure monitoring “part of the holistic care” of children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. These children have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.. Scientists remind that high blood pressure is the main preventable cause of death and disability.

Although there are no approved treatments for NAFLD in children in America today, there are effective treatments for hypertension.. Dr. Schwimmer urges more effective fight against this disease to prolong the life of such patients.

“Parents and doctors should be aware of the health risks of a child who suffers from NAFLD.

The earlier hypertension is detected and the more aggressive treatment is given in a given population, the healthier these children will be in the future..

Recently, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that scientists have found a link between antibiotic treatment in childhood and obesity in the future.. And another group of scientists published the results of their work on the pages of the Archives of Disease in Childhood, according to which lack of sleep in children increases the risk of obesity..

medbe. en.