According to new research published online in the Journal of Pediatrics, overweight children may have a significantly higher risk. Moreover, children with psoriasis may have higher cholesterol levels, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

In the study conducted by at Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research & Evaluation, researchers studied the electronic health records of 710,949 racially and ethnically diverse children.

The researchers found that obese children were 40% more likely to develop psoriasis than normal-weight children. Moreover, Severely obese children were 80% more likely to develop psoriasis.

The researchers also found that teenagers with psoriasis had 4% to 16% higher cholesterol and liver enzymes than other teenagers of the same weight who did not have psoriasis.

According to Corinna Koebnick, PhD, the lead study author and research scientist at Kaiser Permanente, these findings “suggest that the higher heart disease risk for patients with psoriasis starts in childhood in the form of higher cholesterol levels. We may need to monitor youth with psoriasis more closely for cardiovascular risk factors, especially if they are obese.”

Thus, it is very important that pediatricians and dermatologists monitor obese children and children with psoriasis closely in order to manage risk factors associated with psoriasis and cardiovascular disease.

Sources:

Journal of Pediatrics: The Association of Psoriasis and Elevated Blood Lipids in Overweight and Obese Children
ScienceDaily.com: Extremely Obese Children Have Higher Prevalence of Psoriasis, Higher Heart Disease Risk.

LATimes.com: Obesity in childhood may lead to psoriasis; psoriasis may lead to heart disease.