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American Morning
House Call: Fighting Teen Obesity
Aired August 13, 2003 - 09:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Two-thirds of America's adults are overweight. That is the startling estimate from the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate among teens rising fast we're told. And now there's a new study that offers overweight teen a reason to take heed.
From the CNN center with more on what can be done to fight teen obesity, here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta looking at this.
Good to see you, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Good morning, Bill.
Yes, a lot things have changed since we were children in the 1970s. The percentage of children almost tripling that are overweight. Obviously, people talk about adults, 65 percent of American adults now overweight. But the problem also translating to children as well. 15 percent of 6 to 19-year-olds. 15 percent of 6 to 19-year-olds also overweight.
Here's the thing as well, Bill, you have an 80 percent chance, an overweight adolescence has an 80 percent chance of becoming an overweight adult. So you're more likely than not if you're overweight when you're adolescent to also become an overweight adult. That problem is evident then.
There has been a term floating around for some time now called metabolic syndrome. I think it's going to become more and more common. We certainly talk about it with respect to adults quite a bit, but it's also becoming quite a problem for children as well.
Basically what metabolic syndrome is, is three of the five following characteristics: high blood pressure, low levels of good cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, high fasting blood sugar level and abdominal obesity.
Again, we typically think about these problems with adults, but it also applies to children. There are adolescent characteristics as well. This syndrome, metabolic syndrome, affecting 4 percent of all teens, almost a million teens overall.
And if you're an overweight teen, you have a 30 percent chance of having this metabolic syndrome. Incidentally more common in males, three times more common in males, more frequent in Mexican-Americans and whites. And also as far as around the country, the Midwest and the West have the highest incidences of teenage metabolic syndrome. The Northeast actually the lowest.
Again, Bill, they talked so much about all of those characteristics and what they can do to the human body. We're talking about teenagers, people who develop diabetes in their 20s, heart disease in their 40s and even stroke into their 50s and 60s. That's clearly a problem.
One thing I wanted to point out as well, something we talk about quite a bit and the secretary of health was mentioning earlier, body mass index. This is sort of a rough guideline as to what overweight and obesity is. It does not apply to children. Children go through growth spurts. Parents should not use body mass index to figure out that. Adults on the other hand, you have an overweight of 25 to 29.9. That's considered overweight. Obese is 30 and above. These are just rough guidelines.
In fact, we actually pulled yours and Daryn's data from the CNN archives. And as valuable at the information may be, I won't give away your heights and weights, but I will tell you that Daryn, just for record has a 19.9 BMI, well below the overweight level of 25. Bill, yours is 24.4, and you're not nearly overweight, but you're numbers a lot closer. Not to make you paranoid, but just give you a sense. These are just guidelines numbers, and they shouldn't be the gold standard -- Bill.
HEMMER: Got it good stuff to know.
Hey, play the doctor for a quick second. What do you tell parents who if their teenagers could possibly be at risk for the syndrome you're describing to us?
GUPTA: The biggest thing and value of doing segments like this is recognition. If you have an overweight teenager, again, it's less likely than not that they're going to actually grow out of this. So recognize the problem. You might want to get some of these things checked early. The obvious advice, exercise, but specifically, cut down on sugary sodas, maybe taking a lunch to school if your particular school does not serve as nutritious lunches. Keep junk food out of the house. Just keep it out of the house. Teenagers are going to prey on that. Regular consultations with physicians. This seems like obvious advice. Kids need to get their physical exams as well. And even having teenagers who are overweight or not overweight, getting their blood pressure checked regularly. These can be some early indicators and things to watch out for -- Bill.
HEMMER: Got it. Hey, thanks, Sanjay. Talk to you later.
GUPTA: Good seeing you. Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 13, 2003 - 09:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Two-thirds of America's adults are overweight. That is the startling estimate from the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate among teens rising fast we're told. And now there's a new study that offers overweight teen a reason to take heed.
From the CNN center with more on what can be done to fight teen obesity, here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta looking at this.
Good to see you, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Good morning, Bill.
Yes, a lot things have changed since we were children in the 1970s. The percentage of children almost tripling that are overweight. Obviously, people talk about adults, 65 percent of American adults now overweight. But the problem also translating to children as well. 15 percent of 6 to 19-year-olds. 15 percent of 6 to 19-year-olds also overweight.
Here's the thing as well, Bill, you have an 80 percent chance, an overweight adolescence has an 80 percent chance of becoming an overweight adult. So you're more likely than not if you're overweight when you're adolescent to also become an overweight adult. That problem is evident then.
There has been a term floating around for some time now called metabolic syndrome. I think it's going to become more and more common. We certainly talk about it with respect to adults quite a bit, but it's also becoming quite a problem for children as well.
Basically what metabolic syndrome is, is three of the five following characteristics: high blood pressure, low levels of good cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, high fasting blood sugar level and abdominal obesity.
Again, we typically think about these problems with adults, but it also applies to children. There are adolescent characteristics as well. This syndrome, metabolic syndrome, affecting 4 percent of all teens, almost a million teens overall.
And if you're an overweight teen, you have a 30 percent chance of having this metabolic syndrome. Incidentally more common in males, three times more common in males, more frequent in Mexican-Americans and whites. And also as far as around the country, the Midwest and the West have the highest incidences of teenage metabolic syndrome. The Northeast actually the lowest.
Again, Bill, they talked so much about all of those characteristics and what they can do to the human body. We're talking about teenagers, people who develop diabetes in their 20s, heart disease in their 40s and even stroke into their 50s and 60s. That's clearly a problem.
One thing I wanted to point out as well, something we talk about quite a bit and the secretary of health was mentioning earlier, body mass index. This is sort of a rough guideline as to what overweight and obesity is. It does not apply to children. Children go through growth spurts. Parents should not use body mass index to figure out that. Adults on the other hand, you have an overweight of 25 to 29.9. That's considered overweight. Obese is 30 and above. These are just rough guidelines.
In fact, we actually pulled yours and Daryn's data from the CNN archives. And as valuable at the information may be, I won't give away your heights and weights, but I will tell you that Daryn, just for record has a 19.9 BMI, well below the overweight level of 25. Bill, yours is 24.4, and you're not nearly overweight, but you're numbers a lot closer. Not to make you paranoid, but just give you a sense. These are just guidelines numbers, and they shouldn't be the gold standard -- Bill.
HEMMER: Got it good stuff to know.
Hey, play the doctor for a quick second. What do you tell parents who if their teenagers could possibly be at risk for the syndrome you're describing to us?
GUPTA: The biggest thing and value of doing segments like this is recognition. If you have an overweight teenager, again, it's less likely than not that they're going to actually grow out of this. So recognize the problem. You might want to get some of these things checked early. The obvious advice, exercise, but specifically, cut down on sugary sodas, maybe taking a lunch to school if your particular school does not serve as nutritious lunches. Keep junk food out of the house. Just keep it out of the house. Teenagers are going to prey on that. Regular consultations with physicians. This seems like obvious advice. Kids need to get their physical exams as well. And even having teenagers who are overweight or not overweight, getting their blood pressure checked regularly. These can be some early indicators and things to watch out for -- Bill.
HEMMER: Got it. Hey, thanks, Sanjay. Talk to you later.
GUPTA: Good seeing you. Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
