A Warning to Young Couch Potatoes : Study ties teen-age obesity to illness and even premature death in later years

The next time the teen-ager in your house flips on MTV or settles in for an episode of “Beverly Hills 90210,” watch what goes into his or her mouth. Twinkies, potato chips or ice cream? If your couch potato is getting plump, it’s time for some exercise and a healthier diet. Keeping teen-agers trim and fit can reduce their risk of health problems later as adults.

For years it’s been known that adults carrying too many extra pounds bear a greater health risk. But a new study reported last week by the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that those with weight problems in their teens are also at a higher health risk. The findings reinforce the need for preventing obesity in childhood, especially in an era of fat-laden convenience foods.

The Tufts University study, which tracked participants over an unusually long time, was based on 508 men and women, now in their 70s, who had been among the more than 3,000 children who participated in the Harvard Growth Study, which monitored the physical and mental development of children in the Boston area from 1922 to 1935.

Researchers in the new study found that men who had been overweight between the ages of 13 and 18 were at greater risk of developing heart problems and colo-rectal cancer as adults and had an 80% higher risk of dying prematurely than those who were lean as teen-agers. That increased risk of death occurred when men passed their 45th year.

Among the women, the risks of dying were about the same regardless of their adolescent weight. But those who were overweight as teen-agers were more likely to develop heart problems and arthritis than their leaner counterparts.

Today about 25% of the teen-agers in the United States are overweight, by an average of 15 to 20 pounds. That can be countered by reducing dietary fat--in foods like dairy and meat products--to no more than 30% of consumed calories and keeping youngsters active to burn off extra calories. Couch potatoes may not like it now, but they’ll be thankful when they’re fortysomething.