Another problem for overweight teens
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Teens who are overweight tend to have health risks, and a study now says these problems could include weaker bones.
Researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University found the weaker bones in a study of 143 overweight 14- to 18-year-olds. Dr. Norman Pollock:
``Those overweight adolescents that had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and/or diabetes had lower bone mass than the overweight adolescents that did not have any risk factors.'' (10 seconds)
Pollock says that teenagers with weak bones can make them stronger by being physically active. This includes things like weight training, jogging or sports.
The study in the Journal of Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.