CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Some advice for parents from Lurie Children's Hospital: Do what you can now to make sure your child has a healthy heart as an adult.
WBBM's Steve Miller reports.
The numbers sound discouraging: More than a third of the patients Dr. Irwin Benuck sees are overweight or obese by BMI, body mass index, standards.
Dr. Benuck is head of community pediatrics at Lurie Children's. His specialty is pediatric preventive cardiology.
"I'm cautiously optimistic. Behavior is very hard to change, and most of these lifestyles have to be changed.”
That includes making kids who are couch potatoes get off the couch and getting parents to give their child milk and water, rather than sweetened drinks.
Dr. Benuck said he has young patients who are already showing signs of metabolic syndrome, like hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.