As a parent, you want your children to be the healthiest they can be. Helping your children be physically active and eat nutritious food are foremost in your mind. But in recent years, you may have become concerned about reports of children being overweight and obese.

OBESITY A MAJOR RISK FACTOR FOR STROKE

In Canada, rates of obesity among children and youth ages 2 to 17 are increasing. In 1979, 3% of children and youth were obese. By 2004, 8% or an estimated 500,000 were obese. An additional 18% of Canadian children and youth are overweight. These statistics taken together result in one more than one quarter – or 26% – of Canadian children and youth being either overweight or obese.

Studies show that children who are obese over a period of time, or who become obese in later childhood or adolescence, are more likely to remain obese as adults. Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

BLOCKAGE OF AN ARTERY

A stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), occurs when blood supply to part of the brain is disrupted, causing brain cells to die. When blood flow to the brain is impaired, oxygen and glucose cannot be delivered to the brain. Blood flow can be compromised by a variety of mechanisms.

Lacunar Stroke
Narrowing of the small arteries within the brain can cause a so-called lacunar stroke. Blockage of a single arteriole can affect a tiny area of brain causing that tissue to die.

Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)
There are four major blood vessels that supply the brain with blood. The anterior circulation of the brain that controls most motor, activity, sensation, thought, speech, and emotion is supplied by the carotid arteries. The posterior circulation, which supplies the brainstem and the cerebellum, controlling the automatic parts of brain function and coordination, is supplied by the vertebrobasilar arteries.

If these arteries become narrow as a result of atherosclerosis, plaque or cholesterol, debris can break off and float downstream, clogging the blood supply to a part of the brain. As opposed to lacunar strokes, larger parts of the brain can lose blood supply, and this may produce more symptoms than a lacunar stroke.

Embolism to the brain from the heart
In situations in which blood clots form within the heart, the potential exists for small clots to break off and travel (embolize) to the arteries in the brain and cause a stroke.

RUPTURE OF AN ARTERY (hemorrhage)

Cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding within the brain substance)
The most common reason to have bleeding within the brain is uncontrolled high blood pressure. Other situations include aneurysms that leak or rupture or arteriovenous malformations (AVM) in which there is an abnormal collection of blood vessels that are fragile and can bleed.