Heart problems in middle age linked to teenage obesity

HEART problems in middle age can be predicted by how much someone weighs as a teenager, scientists have found.

Overweight adolescents are far more likely to suffer heart failure in their 40s or 50s, according to a study.

And surprisingly, it found that even teenagers of a normal weight were more likely to be at risk than those verging on too thin.

Experts analysed the health records of more than 1.6million Swedish men, starting at the age of 18.

The team, led by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, calculated the body mass index (BMI) of the men – all army conscripts – and tracked their health for the next 42 years.

They found that for 18-year- olds with a BMI of 20 and over – 20 being well within the normal range – the risk of heart failure rose by 16 per cent for every additional BMI point.

The BMI system compares someone’s weight with their height.

Those with a score of 18.5 or below are considered underweight, 18.5 to 25 is normal, above 25 is overweight and more than 30 is obese.

However, the calculation has been criticised for not taking body composition – that is how much fat and muscle someone has – into account.

Study leader Professor Annika Rosengren, whose work is published in the European Heart Journal, said: ‘Although most studies define a normal weight as having a BMI between 18.5 and 25, this is probably not an appropriate definition in the young, most of whom are naturally thin.

‘This may be why we see an increase in the risk of heart failure starting at a fairly low BMI level. However, it was surprising to see the very steep increase in risk with increasing body weight above a BMI of 20.’

She added: ‘Given the global trend for growing numbers of teenagers to be overweight and obese, our findings suggest that heart failure, which in this study occurred at the relatively early average age of about 47, may well become a major threat to health worldwide.’

Compared with men who had a BMI of between 18.5 and 20 as 18year-olds, those with a BMI of 20 to 22.5 had a 22 per cent increased risk of heart failure. For those with a BMI between 22.5 and 25 the risk doubled, while it more than tripled for men with a BMI of 25 to 27.5.

For those with a BMI between 30 and 35 the risk increased six-fold.

Heart failure means the organ is not pumping blood properly around the body. The condition leaves patients out of breath and unable to walk very far – and more than a third die within a year.