Obese girls are at greater risk of developing multiple sclerosis
or MS-like illness, according to a new study published Wednesday
in the online journal Neurology. Researchers looked at body mass
index (BMI) data from more than 900,000 children from the Kaiser
Permanente Southern California Children's health study. Seventy-
five of those children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and
18 were diagnosed with pediatric MS. More than 50% of them were
overweight or obese, and the majority were girls. According to
the study, the MS risk was more than one and a half times higher
for overweight girls, almost two times higher in moderately
obese girls and almost four times higher in extremely obese
girls. "Over the last 30 years, childhood obesity has tripled,"
said study author Dr. Annette Langer-Gould, a neurologist and
regional MS expert for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.
"In our study, the risk of pediatric MS was highest among
moderately and extremely obese teenage girls, suggesting that
the rate of