Waist Size May Communicate More About Children's Cardiovascular Health Than Height, Weight, BMI

The Los Angeles Times (11/22, Roan) "Booster Shots" blog reported, "Waist size may communicate more about a child's cardiovascular health than measuring height, weight and body mass index," researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute found. This is noteworthy, because the "number of children who are overweight and obese [is] on the rise." Therefore, "it's not too early to begin identifying children at higher risk for heart disease and looking for ways to intervene and prevent disease, according to pediatricians."

With that in mind, investigators, "studied data on 4,667 children between six and 17, all part of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is done by the CDC," WebMD (11/19, Hendrick) reported. "In the study, 48% of the children were males, 74% were white, 36% Hispanic, 36% African-American, 11% obese, and 27% had high waist circumferences." Again, "pulse pressure was 'significantly higher' in children with large waists," according to data "presented at the American Society of Nephrology's Renal Week."