Researchers at King’s College London have revealed that obesity impacts the health of the heart among young children. This study was specifically carried out to ascertain the process of how the heart gets impacted due to obesity, which also leads to hindrance in natural growth and development.
The research, published in European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Imaging, claims that the left side of the heart of children dealing with obesity turns more circular than normal. These symptoms have been found in patients suffering from aortic stenosis. Therefore, the body mass index (BMI) that determines obesity should be 19 for a 10-year-old and 25 for adults.
As per the findings, the left ventricle opens into the aorta, which supplies oxygenated blood to the body through other arteries. The left ventricle and the aorta are separated by an aortic valve. The research included data of the last few years of children after birth, aimed to examine the development of the heart system and its associated risk factors.
While collecting data to examine the development of the heart system and its associated risk factors, CMR imaging scan technique was used for thorough study of the hearts of about 2631 children aged 10 years.
Head Researcher of this study, Maciej Marciniak said, “Obesity in children is certainly a matter of concern because it can affect the normal development of their heart. Now, further clinical examination of this research can help in advising the patients to follow a healthy lifestyle at an early age, especially among the children.”
Earlier, various medical reports have claimed that the problem of heart diseases among young children has increased in the last few years, raising the bar of concern. Surprisingly, obesity has been identified as one of the major causes of heart related diseases among people of every age group.
