Overweight Children More Prone to Fractures

Overweight children are likely to suffer from fractures and other orthopaedic complications, suggests a study.

Researchers led by Jack Yanovski from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, studied 227 overweight and 128 normal weight children. The overweight children reported several problems, reported the online edition of BBC News.

The study found that overweight children were four and a half times more likely to have experienced some type of skeletal fracture than those with healthy weight.

They were also four times more likely to suffer from bone or muscle pain.

The most common type of musculoskeletal pain - knee pain - was seen in 6.6 percent overweight children, compared to 2.3 percent normal weight kids. Overweight children also reported more mobility problems.

People of above normal weight generally have dense bones and therefore have a lower risk of fracture.

'The vast majority of overweight children need to be exercising more to help them tackle their weight, as well as eating healthily,' said Ian Campbell, from the organisation Weight Concern.

(Source: IANS News)