As has been revealed by a large-scale study of Native Americans, children who are obese, or suffer from glucose intolerance or high blood pressure might just be facing an increased risk of premature death.

The study analyzed youngsters from two tribes of Arizona, who had the highest BMI, and it was discovered that they were two times more likely to die a premature death from endogenous causes, as compared to those kids who had the lowest BMI.

Also, children with the worst glucose intolerance, as per the study, had a 73% higher risk of dying, in comparison with those with the nest control.

Although no possibility of premature death was seen in children with high cholesterol, the researchers pointed out that this could be because Native Americans anyways have lower cholesterol levels than most other ethnic groups.

"The pattern of relationships between the risk factors and observed mortality supports the view that childhood obesity is an early metabolic derangement, whereas most of the other risk factors evolve later", the researchers wrote.

Details of the study have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.