Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Teens: Getting to the Heart of the Matter

We certainly know that cardiovascular risk factors in adults increase with increasing weight or body mass index (BMI) — but what about adolescents? Do they have the same increasing prevalence of risk factors with increased weight even at a younger age? May et al. (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-1082), using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving more than 3,000 teens between 12 and 19-years-old, share with us changes in cardiovascular risk prevalence by weight category over 10 years in their report being early-released this week. While internists are thought to be the ones that carry the burden of dealing with cardiovascular disease, this article is a wake-up call summoning all of us to do as much as we can to attack these risk factors before they affect the hearts of our patients in the years ahead.