Reduced nerve activity in overweight children
The autonomic nervous system operates independently of the will and consciousness. It consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic, is responsible for the neural supply of the internal organs and regulates circulation, digestion, breathing or heat balance of the body. To check the function of the autonomic nervous system were normal weight at 90 overweight and obese children and adolescents and in 59 tested the cardiac, pupil and skin reactions between 7 and 18 years. The overweight and obese participants showed decreased activity of the autonomic nervous system as it is designed to bring about in diabetics whose nerves are damaged by long-term excessive blood sugar levels. In the children studied, however disturbances in glucose metabolism or diabetes were excluded in advance.
The reduced nerve activity was particularly evident in the pupil through slower reactions to changing light conditions and in the heart through a reduced ability of the heart rate to adapt to rest and stress. However, it is not yet clear exactly how the reduction in activity occurs and whether the symptoms disappear when the young patient starts losing weight again.
"The study shows that damage to the autonomic nervous system begins insidiously in childhood, even before the sugar metabolism in obese children is impaired. The children are therefore not "well and healthy", as many parents believe, but sicker than we previously thought have", explain the study directors Dr. Susann Blüher and Dr. peter tree The study results also suggest that as the degree of obesity increases, there is increasing dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This is worrying because 15 percent of children and young people in Germany are already overweight and over 6 percent are obese.
Follow-up studies will examine exactly how the functional limitations come about and where doctors can start treating them. More than ever, the golden rule for parents is not to let their children become overweight in the first place. So the belief that a "chubby" child is cute and will "grow the pounds off" can be not only deceptive but also harmful. The obesity outpatient clinic of the IFB for children and young people at the Leipzig University Hospital offers help for young obese patients and their parents.
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http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0054546
Source: Leipzig [ IFB ]
