Obesity and lack of physical activity can put children at greater risks of suffering from joint pains at a young age, researchers say.
A team of researchers from Nationwide Children's Hospital and Ohio State University looked at 175 obese children, Health Day reported. Details about the participant's age, sex, race, physical activity, lower joint pain, puberty, mental health and physical fitness were recorded.
More than half of the participants (51 percent) reported suffering from lower extremity pain (knees, ankles or feet). Researchers found these children having lower physical function and poorer mental health.
Dr. Sharon Bout-Tabaku and colleagues, who conducted the study found the pain affecting children's ability to exercise regularly to lose weight.
"Our hips and knees bear five to seven times our body weight. These little frames aren't supposed to be carrying 150 pounds of body weight. The heavier the child, the bigger the pressure on the joints and cartilage, and that can be painful. It sets up their soft tissue for inflammation," Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who was not involved with the research, said Health Day.
According to health experts, experiencing joint pain for a long time make the children at higher risks of arthritis later.
"A few decades down the road they'll have a higher likelihood of developing arthritis because the load on their joints on a daily basis for years and years will lead to degenerative changes," Dr. Steven Cohen, a sports medicine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and medical director for the Philadelphia Marathon, told Health Day.
The results come at a time when childhood obesity affects 17 percent of all American children and teens. According to CDC, obese youth are at greater risks of developing cardiovascular diseases (high cholesterol or high blood pressure), prediabetes, sleep apnea, social, psychological problems and poor self-esteem.
In their view, children who are heavy in childhood are more likely to grow up as obese adults, escalating the risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis.
Findings of the study have been published in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, recently.
