Weighty Matters
Editorial highlights concern over growing obesity rates and new research linking weight gain in adolescences to stroke risk.
WHO
Kathryn M. Rexrode, MD, MPH
physician, researcher, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
WHERE
Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology
WHEN
Embargoed for release, June 28, 2017 at 4 p.m. EDT
WHAT
"Adolescent weight gain confers long-term increased stroke risk"
Dr. Rexrode has co-authored an editorial about new research that highlights the link between adolescent weight gain and stroke risk later in life.
She writes: "Over the last 3 decades, obesity has reached a pandemic level globally, affecting all ages, especially in the United States... Based on the data from Ohlsson et al., this exponential increase in obesity in adolescents portends serious health consequences later in life."
Weight gain during adolescence conferred long-term increased risk of stroke in adulthood. However, "importantly for public health implications, children who reduced their BMI to the normal range by age 20 had no long-term increased risk of stroke. These findings emphasize the need to target interventions for children and adolescents to prevent overweight and obesity in early adulthood and also reduce future cardiovascular morbidity."
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Dr. Rexrode is available to speak with media about this editorial. Please contact Lori Schroth at lschroth@bwh.harvard.edu to arrange an interview.
Journal
Neurology