A new study finds 50 percent of overweight teenagers and 60 percent of obese teens have one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, but prediabetes/diabetes has increased the most.
Researchers at the Centers For Disease Control looked at data on nearly 3,400 adolescents aged 12 to 19 between 1999 and 2008.
Results show half of all overweight teens had at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor and 60 percent of obese teens did, too. In fact, 37 percent of normal-weight teens had one or more of the risk factors.
Researchers say the most common combination of risk factors among overweight and obese children was prehypertension/hypertension and borderline high cholesterol.
But of all the risk factors studied, prediabetes/diabetes increased the most; from 9 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2008.
Doctors say diabetes screening of obese and overweight adolescents is critical.
Complete findings for this study are in the journal "Pediatrics."
