Overweight, Obesity in Adolescents Linked With Increased Risk for End-Stage Renal Disease Over Time

More nutritional child abuse.

Being overweight and obese during adolescence appears related to an increased risk of all-cause treated end-stage renal disease (ESRD) during a 25-year period, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Children and adolescents with high body mass index (BMI) often become obese adults, and obese adults are at risk for chronic conditions such as diabetes, which can mean future risk of chronic kidney disease and ESRD, according to the study background.

Asaf Vivante, M.D., of the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps and the Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel, and colleagues examined the association between BMI in adolescence and the risk for all-cause, diabetic and nondiabetic ESRD.

Medical data for almost 1.2 million adolescents (17 years old) who were examined for fitness for Israeli military service between January 1967 and December 1997 were linked to the Israeli ESRD registry in a nationwide population-based retrospective study.

"In this long-term nationwide population-based study, overweight and obesity at age 17 years were strongly and positively associated with the incidence of future treated ESRD, although the absolute risk for ESRD remains low," the authors comment.

Stop the nutritional child abuse.