Children packing excess pounds are also often plagued by another health condition, psoriasis—a chronic, inflammatory disease of the skin—that might elevate their cholesterol levels and predispose them to developing cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online in the Journal of Pediatrics and reported by HealthDay News.

For the study, researchers evaluated the electronic health records of almost 711,000 ethnically and racially diverse kids, ages 2 to 19. Scientists found that obese kids were 40 percent more likely to have psoriasis than normal weight children. What’s more, researchers noted that extremely obese children were nearly 80 percent more likely to have psoriasis than normal weight kids. The study also revealed obese children were four times more likely to develop a severe or more widespread case of psoriasis than normal weight children.

In addition, researchers noted that the skin condition might put children at risk of other metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

To further determine the relationship between childhood psoriasis and cardiovascular disease risk, scientists plan to monitor these young patients over the course of 30 to 40 years. Why? To determine whether their increased risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease will raise their risk of having major adverse cardiac events as adults, said the study’s senior author, Jashin J. Wu, MD, director for the department of dermatology at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

Click here to read about how diet can affect psoriasis and other skin conditions.