Key clinical point: Overweight and obesity in early childhood were significant predictors of cardiometabolic risk at age 11-12 years.

Major finding: Compared with healthy-weight children, children who were overweight or obese had higher metabolic syndrome risk scores by 0.23 standard deviation (SD) units and 0.76 SD units, respectively, at age 6-7 years; these associations approximately doubled by age 11-12 years.

Study details: The data come from a population-based study of 5,107 children in Australia.

Disclosures: The study was supported by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The University of Melbourne, National Heart Foundation of Australia, Financial Markets Foundation for Children, and Victorian Deaf Education Institute. A number of the researchers were supported by grants from these and other universities and organizations. The researchers had no relevant financial disclosures.