Heart disease dogs children

Obese Northland children are showing early signs of coronary heart disease, a condition usually associated with overweight middle-aged men.

Children as young as 9 were weighing in at 105kg, with 50 per cent body fat and high blood pressure, Northland Health child psychologist Gary Poole said.

As well as Type-2 diabetes, obese children were at risk of developing coronary disease.

"We're looking at young people with coronary heart disease that the majority of people wouldn't get until they were in their middle age."

To combat the problem, Mr Poole and Northland Health paediatrician Dr Vicki Tyrrell have developed a health clinic to address health problems in overweight children.

The clinic - a pilot programme based at Whangarei Hospital - focuses on lifestyle, nutrition, exercise and reducing the time spent in front of computers and television sets.

It has had positive early results, with children in the programme experiencing changes in blood chemistry and reductions in their weight and their fat levels.

The programme aims to achieve small, sustainable changes in the children's lifestyle and involves families, Sport Northland and public health nurses in the process.

"The main aim is improving their health; we're not obsessed with weight," Mr Poole said.

Extensive medical testing was carried out on the children at the beginning so their progress could be tracked over time.

Twelve children were in the first group to undergo the six- week programme in October and their results are now being analysed.

Mr Poole said that while there had been positive short-term results, the programme's main aim was to attain long-term improvements in children's lifestyle and health before they reached the age of 16.

"We're following them [the children] and that's the key, to continue it through until we get the first group through the first 12 months," he said.

"If you don't deal with it before they're about 16, it becomes that much more difficult to deal with."

The programme gained better results when it was adapted to involve children's families in the process, Mr Poole said.

"It's a very positive kind of thing. They're very motivated; they [families] support each other. It totally focuses on the kids."

He was hopeful that the programme could help address the obesity problem in Northland and could then be rolled out to other areas.

- NZPA