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  hildren who weigh too much face a broad array of health problems, with type 2 diabetes leading the list.
Closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes once was so rare among children that it was called adult onset diabetes. But physicians on the medical staff at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, like colleagues nationwide, are seeing “more 12- and 13-year-olds with type 2 diabetes than you can imagine,” says Dr. Dana Hardin, an endocrinologist on the medical staff at Children’s, who also works with the hospital’s nutrition program. Doctors estimate 70 percent of overweight kids will grow up to be overweight adults. Once they’ve been too heavy for too many years, experts say, they’re at risk for diseases that doctors usually see in people in their 60s, 70s and 80s. “We’ll be treating them when they’re in their mid-30s,” says Dr. Hardin. “Their diabetes will lead to so many problems.” The average age of kids being treated in obesity clinics is about 12. “When these kids grow up and into their most productive years, many of them will be on disability from their diabetes and the many diseases that accompany diabetes,” says Dr. Hardin. But diabetes is just one of many health problems tied to obesity. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease also top the list, says Dr. Hardin. Obese kids also “have the quality of life, in many cases, of a chemotherapy patient,” she adds. “This is a huge public health problem, and it’s going to get worse. The trend still is going up.”
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