Follow up to previous postings on childhood and adolescent obesity, this new research study: “Obesity, glucose intolerance, and hypertension in childhood were strongly associated with increased rates of premature death from endogenous causes in this population [4857 American Indian children without diabetes]. In contrast, childhood hypercholesterolemia was not a major predictor of premature death from endogenous causes. Despite recent increases in life expectancy, the rising global prevalence of obesity may reverse this trend. The rising rates and increasingly early onset of other chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes may also affect mortality rates. Cardiovascular risk factors are common in children. Although early-onset diabetes has been shown to raise mortality rates, and the relation between cardiovascular risk factors during adulthood and early death is well defined, little is known about the way in which cardiovascular risk factors that are present during childhood affect life span. Defining such relationships may help predict the long-term human and economic costs of cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and might justify interventions that are intended to improve health and reduce the rates of premature death. In this study, we assessed the extent to which obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia in children without diabetes predicted premature death (defined as death before 55 years of age) in American Indians from Arizona.” [New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 362:485-493, February 1 2010, Number 6]