This is bad news considering the obesity epidemic with kids today.
Heavy teenagers are often destined for skyrocketing weight gain in their 20s, a new study shows.
About half of obese teenage girls and about a third of obese teen boys become severely obese by the time they are 30 — meaning they are 80 to 100 pounds over a healthy weight, the new research says.
We see a tremendous amount of weight gain during those years,” says Penny Gordon-Larsen, senior author of the study and an associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Other research has found that heavy children are more likely to become heavy adults. But this is one of the first studies to show what happens to teens who are obese — that is roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight — as they reach adulthood.
It’s critical that we find ways to address obesity in children. At some point they will be a lost cause.
