London:
Parents, please note, your child's wrists could indicate whether they have a risk of
developing heart disease when they grow up, say researchers.
A new study has found that bigger the wrist size, the higher the child's resistance to insulin, a factor which could push up the chances of heart problems in later life, British
newspaper the 'Daily Mail' reported.
For the study, the researchers at Sapienza University of Rome analysed 500 overweight and obese children.
They recorded the subjects' wrist size using MRI scans or a tape measure. Having a bigger bony area, as shown in a scan, accounted for a 20 per cent increase in insulin
resistance between children.
Simply checking the width of the wrist with a tape measure, including any excess fat, was almost as reliable a pointer, according to the Italian researchers.
They claim it will be a better predictor of future problems than how much extra body fat children are carrying.
Dr Marco Capizzi, the lead researcher, said the next step was to check for a link between wrist size and insulin resistance in children of healthy weight.
In a report in the 'Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association', he said that the technique could eventually be developed as an easy way for doctors to identify young people at greatest risk.
Excess body fat in youngsters is already linked to several heart disease risk factors in later life, including insulin resistance, which makes a person prone to diabetes.
But children's bodies change rapidly during adolescence, which means more accurate methods need to be devised. "We're hoping to do further research to determine how important this could be and we'll need to look at children of healthy weight," Dr Capizzi said.
developing heart disease when they grow up, say researchers.
A new study has found that bigger the wrist size, the higher the child's resistance to insulin, a factor which could push up the chances of heart problems in later life, British
newspaper the 'Daily Mail' reported.
For the study, the researchers at Sapienza University of Rome analysed 500 overweight and obese children.
They recorded the subjects' wrist size using MRI scans or a tape measure. Having a bigger bony area, as shown in a scan, accounted for a 20 per cent increase in insulin
resistance between children.
Simply checking the width of the wrist with a tape measure, including any excess fat, was almost as reliable a pointer, according to the Italian researchers.
They claim it will be a better predictor of future problems than how much extra body fat children are carrying.
Dr Marco Capizzi, the lead researcher, said the next step was to check for a link between wrist size and insulin resistance in children of healthy weight.
In a report in the 'Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association', he said that the technique could eventually be developed as an easy way for doctors to identify young people at greatest risk.
Excess body fat in youngsters is already linked to several heart disease risk factors in later life, including insulin resistance, which makes a person prone to diabetes.
But children's bodies change rapidly during adolescence, which means more accurate methods need to be devised. "We're hoping to do further research to determine how important this could be and we'll need to look at children of healthy weight," Dr Capizzi said.
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