Heart disease, diabetes, and other metabolic side effects of obesity affect both adults and children. Some of this may be hereditary, but sometimes it can result merely from a poor diet and lack of exercise.

When preventable, it saddens me to think that children with obesity and other related problems live shorter and less healthy lives. What happened to the good old days where people were outside and active? What became of the time before TV, before video games, before computers, and before all sorts of gadgets were created to do our manual labor for us? Sedentary lifestyles are a continuing problem with more health consequences than one can imagine - for people of all ages.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recently recommended that cholesterol testing include children as young as two and provide preventative treatment for patients from families with a history of related health problems. Some speculate that future generations could develop insulin resistance and fatty liver if given cholesterol-lowering and other prescriptions too early in life. However, others may argue that screening for problems early on could save lives.

How early is too early to start monitoring your children's health?