The New England Journal of Medicine published a new study which raises concern over our country's overweight teenage population and their risk of impending heart disease.

The results showed that:

• Up to 37 per cent of males will be obese in 2020, when teenagers from the year 2000 are 35 years old.
• For females the figure will be even higher at 44 per cent.
• Because of this projected rate of obesity, those young adults are likely to have more heart attacks, more chronic chest pain, and to die before they are 50.
• The US is likely to see more than 100,000 extra cases of heart disease by the year 2035.
• This is an increase of 16 per cent on today's figures; and an increase of 19 per cent in deaths due to coronary heart disease...

...Lead author of the study and assistant professor in medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, Dr Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, said in a prepared statement that:

"Today's adolescents are the young adults of tomorrow; young adults who would ordinarily be working, raising their families, and not worried about heart disease until they are much older."

"Our study suggests that more of these young adults will have heart disease when they are 35-50 years old, resulting in more hospitalizations, medical procedures, need for chronic medications, missed work days and shortened life expectancy," she added. 

If you or someone you love is overweight, do something today to start losing weight.  Simply cutting out carbohydrate calories from breads and potatoes, avoiding liquid calories, and introducing one or two apples each day will get you on your way to wellness.

Weight loss is best accomplished as a family effort with children, work together as a family to fix the problem. 

After all, a family who got fat together should very well get fit together, too.