'Hyperactive kids prone to heart disease'

Hyperactivity in childhood linked to heart disease

A new study has found that girls who are hyperactive as kids are more likely to develop hints of heart problems later in adulthood.

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The study was conducted on a group of 708 children by a team of Finnish researchers led by Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen, a psychology researcher at the University of Helsinki.

The researchers also found that kids who are hyperactive, socially isolated and have other problems dealing with people are more likely to develop some heart-unhealthy habits later in life.

Keltikangas-Järvinen and colleagues analyzed a study of Finnish children whose emotional states were examined at ages 3 to 9 in the early 1980s, and a followup study conducted in the now-adult participants in 2001 and 2002. They used ultrasound to check the thickness of their arteries — thick and clogged arteries contribute to heart disease. They also asked about habits such as smoking.

Boffins found that kids who were hyperactive, isolated from other children and had “a tendency towards negative mood, low self-control and aggressive outbursts” and were more likely to smoke as adults. Girls with those problems were also more likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure.

Even when other factors were taken into account, girls who were more active than other children — not just those who might be specifically diagnosed with a psychological problem — were more likely to show indications of clogged arteries as adults.

The reason, they state, seems to be stress that comes with always hearing, “Don’t do that, don’t be that, don’t be so restless, don’t be so noisy,” said Keltikangas-Järvinen.

The findings from this study appear in the upcoming issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.