According to a recent study by researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital, obese or diabetic teenagers and young adults generally start showing early signs of damaged heart arteries that may cause heart attacks, strokes and shortened lives.

To arrive at the aforesaid conclusion of the study - which has been published in the Journal of the American Heart Association - researchers analyzed 446 patients, who were identified with risk factors related to heart disease. Researchers used ultrasound imaging to verify the presence of fatty plaque accumulation in the carotid arteries of young people, who were either obese or had type-2 diabetes.

The study found that as compared to normal-weight youths, the carotid arteries, which are found in the neck and carry blood from the heart to the brain, of obese and diabetic youths were thicker and stiffer - a sign that spells risk factors for heart attack and stroke in adults

With the researchers noting a twofold increase in the incidence of childhood obesity over two decades, lead author Elaine Urbina - a pediatric cardiologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Heart Institute in Ohio - said that the "progressive" plaque-buildup damage in obese and diabetic youth begins alarming early.

As such, Urbina said: "This may be the first generation that has shorter life expectancies than their parents. We have to attack the obesity problem on many fronts."