Obese teenagers 'show signs of heart disease'
A study of 63 children, whose average age was 13, found signs of "stiffening" in the aorta - the largest artery in the body.
The British Columbia Children's Hospital team said it was an early indicator of heart disease.
The British Heart Foundation described child obesity as a "ticking public health time bomb".
One of the key changes in heart disease is the hardening of arteries supplying blood to the heart.
The rate of childhood obesity has rocketed in the last two decades and continues to increase, leading to fears that younger and younger people will fall prey to heart attacks and strokes, as well as other diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.
Measurements of the elasticity of the aorta were taken using ultrasound, which can help doctors work out how fast blood is flowing through the vessel.
However, when the results for the obese teenagers were compared with 55 children with normal weights, the differences were clear.
More worryingly, these findings were not echoed by similar differences in blood pressure, and blood cholesterol levels between the obese and normal weight children.
This suggests that cardiovascular problems which could threaten or even shorten life could be developing "silently" during childhood; Kazinform cites BBC.
See www.bbc.co.uk for full version