Study: New Risk for Teen Smokers

Exposure to cigarette smoke raises the risk among teenagers of metabolic syndrome, according to a study.

The disorder, which is associated with excess belly fat, increases the chances of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Researchers said it is the first study to establish such a link in teens.

"The bottom line to me is: As we gear up to take on this epidemic of obesity, we cannot abandon protecting our children from secondhand smoke and smoking," said lead author Dr. Michael Weitzman, executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center for Child Health Research in Rochester, N.Y.

In the study, published yesterday in the American Heart Association online journal Circulation, researchers found that 6 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds had metabolic syndrome and that the prevalence increased with exposure to tobacco smoke.

The study found that 1 percent of those unexposed to smoke developed the syndrome, 5 percent of those exposed to secondhand smoke had the disorder and 9 percent of active smokers had it.

Looking at teens who were overweight or at risk for being overweight, the effect of smoke was even more marked, with 6 percent of those not exposed to smoke developing the syndrome, 20 percent of those exposed to secondhand smoke getting it and 24 percent of smokers suffering from the disorder.

"What this shows is that the percentages of kids who are at risk is vastly higher if they’re overweight and they’re exposed to secondhand smoke," Weitzman said.

The researchers looked at 2,273 adolescents, using information from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey. The youngsters reported their own use of tobacco. Also, the study looked at measurements of cotinine, a product of nicotine after it enters the body. Two-thirds of teens who did not smoke had cotinine levels that indicated secondhand-smoke exposure.

Weitzman said it is not clear what it is about smoking that appears to make teenagers more susceptible to metabolic syndrome. But in adults, smoking has been linked to insulin resistance, a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Doctors also note that smoking can lower levels of good cholesterol and raise blood pressure, two more markers for the disorder.

ISSUE

For the study, metabolic syndrome was defined as having at least three of five characteristics: a big waist, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, low levels of good cholesterol, and evidence of insulin resistance.