Childhood Obesity Ups Heart Disease Risk

Kids as young as 10 face an increased risk of heart disease due to obesity, says childhood obesity expert.

Dr Matt Sabin, co-head of the Royal Children's Hospital weight management clinic, said Victoria's obesity epidemic was becoming extreme.

"We're not talking about a little bit of extra weight, we're talking about severely obese children," News.com.au quoted Sabin as saying.

"It is getting worse - the numbers are not getting higher but the degree of obesity is getting worse," added Sablin.

While most were aged 14 to 18, a handful were as young as 10, Sabin said.

"Five years ago, one child every three or four months was being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, now it's one every three or four weeks," he said.

Type 2 diabetes could lead to kidney failure, heart disease, blindness, and research had shown, within 15 years of diagnosis, one in 10 children would be dead.

Source: ANI