Elevated body mass index (BMI) in childhood is known to increase the risk of adult coronary heart disease (CHD) in both men and women. However, it has remained unclear whether reversing childhood overweight before young adulthood can reduce this risk later in life. To address this question, researchers in Sweden examined the association between childhood overweight remission and adult CHD risk using data from a population-based cohort of more than 103,000 individuals born between 1945 and 1968.
The analysis showed that individuals who were overweight in childhood but attained normal weight before young adulthood had a CHD risk comparable to those who maintained normal weight throughout childhood and young adulthood (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.98). In contrast, individuals who developed overweight during puberty had a significantly higher risk of adult CHD (HR: 1.83), as did those with…
