Alberta children may have joints worn beyond their years by middle age and may need hips and knees replaced sooner and in far greater numbers than the previous generation unless obesity rates are reversed, the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute (ABJHI) said today.

“Rising rates of obesity in our children are an alarming omen of early joint wear,” Dr. Ron Zernicke, Executive Director of the ABJHI, said. “Excess weight in adolescence can persist into adulthood when further weight gain is likely. Unless we take effective measures now to change a generation of young people who eat too much, eat unhealthy foods and don’t exercise enough, we could see the future need for joint replacements increase dramatically.”

• Dr. Ron Zernicke, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Kinesiology, Wood Professor, Joint Injury Research, Departments of Surgery and Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience

  Professor, Departments of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at University of Calgary

  Director, Alberta Provincial CIHR Training Program in Bone and Joint Health