Parents who spank their children could be putting them at a higher risk of obesity and other health problems in adulthood.

A new study found kids who were disciplined through physical punishment were more likely to develop health problems such as arthritis and cardiovascular issues later in life, Reuters reported.

"This is one study that adds to a growing area of research that all has consistent findings that physical punishment is associated with negative mental and now physical (health) outcomes," Tracie Afifi, who led the study at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, said.

The researchers re-analyzed data from 2004 and 2005 reports that surveyed over 34,000 Canadian adults.

About 1,300 people reported experiencing occasional physical punishment as children. These participants were more likely to suffer at least one chronic health condition than adults who didn't report any pushing or hitting.

The individuals who had been physically punished were 25 percent more likely to have arthritis and 28 percent more likely to suffer from a cardiovascular disease, although the researchers noted this could be a coincidence.

Thirty-one percent of the study subjects who had been physically punished were obese, compared to only 26 percent of those hadn't reported any corporal discipline.

Affi said the health problems could be linked to inflammation from the physical interactions, along with "psychological and behavioral responses."

"Changes in sleep, risk-taking behaviors, immune functioning and regulation of stress hormones that result from chronic or intense stress may be important factors," Michele Knox, a psychiatrist who studies family and youth violence at the University of Toledo College of Medicine, told Reuters.

People who were spanked as children have shown mental as well as physical disadvantages, Healthday reported.

A 2009 study tested the IQs of 806 American children who were between two and four years-old, and a group of kids six to nine year-olds.

When the children's IQs were retested four years later, members of the younger age group who had not been spanked scored an average of five points higher, kids who had not experienced physical punishment in the older group were up 2.8 points.

"How often parents spanked made a difference. "The more spanking, the slower the development of the child's mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking made a difference," Murray Straus, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, said.

"If we want what's best for our children, we need to choose discipline that does not come with these risks," Knox said.