A recent study published in the journal Stroke investigates the potential association of cerebrovascular diseases (CrVDs) with obesity and being overweight in men and women. Study: Overweight in adolescence and young adulthood in association with adult cerebrovascular disease: the NFBC1966 study . Image Credit: crystal light / Shutterstock.
com CrVDs are the third leading cause of disability and death throughout the world. Although older adults are more commonly affected, the incidence of stroke among younger individuals has significantly increased. When a stroke occurs among young adults, the lifelong inability to return to the workplace significantly impacts the survivor’s social and economic standing.
The inability to treat strokes effectively emphasizes the need for primary prevention, including the identification of preventable risk factors for CrVDs. Childhood obesity, for example, increases the risk of CrVD in later life. However, the impact of shifts in the body mass index (BMI) over time has not been fully explored.
Childhood obesity is a predictor of adult obesity. For example, Finnish statistics indicate the prevalence of obesity in about 20% of girls and 30% of boys up to 16 years of age as compared to 35% and 47% of young women and men, respectively, between 18 and 29 years of age. Previous research from the North Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC66) reported that very young girls with stunting and low body weight were more likely to have ischemic strokes than adu.
