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