Obesity leads children to take adult medications

NEW YORK Data from two pharmacy plans and a market-research company indicate that more and more children are taking prescription medication for illnesses related to obesity, according to The New York Times.

Data that the Times obtained from the market-research company Verispan and pharmacy plans Medco Health Solutions and Express Scripts show that hundreds of thousands of children are being prescribed drugs for Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, acid reflux and high cholesterol.

The Times also reported the American Academy of Pediatrics as recommending drugs to lower cholesterol for children as young as 8.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines obesity as a body mass index of 30 or greater and estimates that it affects 33.3 percent of adult men and 35.3 percent of adult women in the United States.