Among the USC researchers' findings presented at NAASO:

• Nine of every 10 overweight Latino children had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, and this appears due to low sensitivity to insulin. Three of every 10 kids had three or more features of the metabolic syndrome: obesity around the belly, low levels of HDL cholesterol (the so-called "good cholesterol"), high triglycerides and high blood pressure. Higher insulin sensitivity was tied to higher HDL, and lower insulin sensitivity was linked to higher tryglyceride levels and blood pressure. Since these are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, researchers suggest that increasing insulin sensitivity is crucial for preventing chronic disease in childhood.

• Overweight Latino children with the metabolic syndrome were much less physically fit than kids with no metabolic syndrome features-regardless of body composition or sensitivity to insulin. Researchers measured cardiovascular fitness by logging each child's VO2max (the volume of oxygen their bodies could use while exercising full-tilt) and found that the greater their VO2max, the lower the kids' blood pressure. They also found that kids with three or more features of the metabolic syndrome had much lower VO2max than kids with no features of the metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome strongly predicts both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, so researchers believe that improving fitness would be a worthy way of deterring these diseases among such children.

• About 28 percent of heavy Latino children with a family history of type 2 diabetes already have pre-diabetes-elevated blood sugar levels-linked to beta cells that have started failing. Overweight kids who had elevated blood sugar levels, or imp
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