Today’s teens’ poor health habits might cost them years of life. A study found this in data on about 5,500 teens. Donald Lloyd-Jones of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago examined risk factors for heart disease. Many teens had high blood sugar, low physical activity, and smoked.
Their eating patterns were high in sodium and sugar-sweetened beverages, and low in fruits, vegetables, fiber and lean protein.
Lloyd-Jones says teens are losing health they were born with:
"We know that we tend to gain weight as we age through adulthood, so we’re already seeing that our teens are off to a very poor start."
The study presented at an American Heart Association meeting was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
