Gallstone risk 'higher among obese teenagers'

Fat parents have fat kids.

Teenagers who are overweight or obese are much more likely to develop gallstones, compared with peers of a healthy weight, US research suggests.

Healthcare providers Kaiser Permanente looked at 510,000 children aged 10-19. The study, in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, found 766 had gallstones.

It found those who were overweight were twice as likely as those with a healthy weight to have gallstones - the rate was higher among those who were obese.

Those who were moderately obese were four times more likely to have gallstones than those with a normal body mass index, and this rose to six times for those classed as extremely obese.

A UK obesity expert said it was yet another sign that obesity-linked disorders were being seen at increasingly young ages.

More nutritional child abuse. Stop the abuse.