Hyperactive Girls May Face Grown-Up Health Challenges

Hyperactive Girls May Face Grown-Up Health Challenges

She’s always restless, can’t sitstill, chatters nonstop, and haslittle self-control. That’s thedefinition of “hyperactive,”according to parents in one study.Twenty-one years later, theirhyperactive daughters were morelikely than other women to havethickened arteries—and abouta 20% greater risk for heartattack or stroke.

Why might hyperactivity ingirlhood be linked to heart riskslater? After all, “being active”can help prevent heart disease.So you’d think a girl in perpetualmotion would actually bereducing her heart risks.

However, girls are generallyexpected to be quieter and calmerthan boys. A girl whose behaviordoesn’t fit these expectations canbecome very stressed. And that’swhat may affect her health longterm,say researchers.

Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol. 68, No. 4

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