Childhood obesity is linked to more immediate health problems than doctors formerly realized

While a plethora of research on childhood obesity has linked it to long-term health problems, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition's more proximate consequences, showing that obese children are at a greater risk for immediate health problems than previously thought. That's important for Kentucky, which ranks poorly in many health measures and is third highest in child obesity. (Photo by Tara Kaprowy)

"This study paints a comprehensive picture of childhood obesity, and we were surprised to see just how many conditions were associated with childhood obesity," said lead author Dr. Neal Halfon, a professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy at UCLA.

Compared to kids who are not overweight, the study found that obese children have nearly twice the risk of having three or more reported medical, mental or developmental conditions. Specific medical conditions included bone, joint and muscle problems; asthma; allergies; headaches; and ear infections. Obese children also reported a greater tendency toward emotional and behavioral problems, higher rates of grade repetition, missed school days and other school problems, ADHD, conduct disorder, depression, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.

The study provides the first comprehensive national profile of associations between weight status and a broad set of associated health conditions, a UCLA release said. Halfon said these findings should serve as a wake-up call to physicians, parents and teachers, who should be better informed of the risk for health conditions associated with childhood obesity. (Read more)

While a plethora of research on childhood obesity has linked it to long-term health problems, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition's more proximate consequences, showing that obese children are at a greater risk for immediate health problems than previously thought. That's important for Kentucky, which ranks poorly in many health measures and is third highest in child obesity. (Photo by Tara Kaprowy)

"This study paints a comprehensive picture of childhood obesity, and we were surprised to see just how many conditions were associated with childhood obesity," said lead author Dr. Neal Halfon, a professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy at UCLA.

Compared to kids who are not overweight, the study found that obese children have nearly twice the risk of having three or more reported medical, mental or developmental conditions. Specific medical conditions included bone, joint and muscle problems; asthma; allergies; headaches; and ear infections. Obese children also reported a greater tendency toward emotional and behavioral problems, higher rates of grade repetition, missed school days and other school problems, ADHD, conduct disorder, depression, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.

The study provides the first comprehensive national profile of associations between weight status and a broad set of associated health conditions, a UCLA release said. Halfon said these findings should serve as a wake-up call to physicians, parents and teachers, who should be better informed of the risk for health conditions associated with childhood obesity. (Read more)

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Georgia doctor prescribes pills to help in school -- whether or not the ADHD shoe fits -- to level the playing field for the poor

Amanda Rocafort and her son, Quintn,
who takes Adderall for his ADHD.
(NYT photo by Bryan Meltz)

In light of last week's news that the number of poor children on Medicaid in Kentucky are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs at alarming rates for such diagnoses as attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder and depression, the New York Times reports that some doctors are making "no excuses" for prescribing psychostimulants in other locales for children of the poor.  Dr. Michael Anderson, a pediatrician in a poor county north of Atlanta, Ga., said he thinks ADHD is "made up" and "an excuse" to prescribe pills to treat what he "considers the children’s true ill -- poor academic performance in inadequate schools." Still, "I don’t have a whole lot of choice,' said Anderson. “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.'"

Dr. Anderson is one of the more outspoken proponents of an idea that is gaining some ground: Prescribe drugs to struggling students in schools not to treat ADHD, necessarily, but to boost their focus and impulse control.  Alan Schwarz reports that Anderson figures that he is arming them with the only tool he has because these children can't afford family therapy or tutoring or behavior-based counseling or any of those other tools that other children might have at their disposal to help them learn.

Of course, Anderson is not without his critics. Many doctors, writes Schwarz, warn of the dangers of exposing children to the unwarranted physical and psychological risks of powerful drugs on everything from mood to blood pressure to the suppression of growth. (Read more)

Amanda Rocafort and her son, Quintn,
who takes Adderall for his ADHD.
(NYT photo by Bryan Meltz)

In light of last week's news that the number of poor children on Medicaid in Kentucky are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs at alarming rates for such diagnoses as attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder and depression, the New York Times reports that some doctors are making "no excuses" for prescribing psychostimulants in other locales for children of the poor.  Dr. Michael Anderson, a pediatrician in a poor county north of Atlanta, Ga., said he thinks ADHD is "made up" and "an excuse" to prescribe pills to treat what he "considers the children’s true ill -- poor academic performance in inadequate schools." Still, "I don’t have a whole lot of choice,' said Anderson. “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.'"

Dr. Anderson is one of the more outspoken proponents of an idea that is gaining some ground: Prescribe drugs to struggling students in schools not to treat ADHD, necessarily, but to boost their focus and impulse control.  Alan Schwarz reports that Anderson figures that he is arming them with the only tool he has because these children can't afford family therapy or tutoring or behavior-based counseling or any of those other tools that other children might have at their disposal to help them learn.

Of course, Anderson is not without his critics. Many doctors, writes Schwarz, warn of the dangers of exposing children to the unwarranted physical and psychological risks of powerful drugs on everything from mood to blood pressure to the suppression of growth. (Read more)

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