A Groundbreaking Medical Test to Predict Childhood Obesity Risk
Scientists have developed a new medical test that can assess a child’s risk of becoming obese in later life. This innovation has the potential to identify children at high risk and provide them with targeted support to prevent excessive weight gain. The test, which evaluates a person's genetic risk of obesity, has been found to be twice as effective as any other existing obesity risk predictor, according to researchers.
In addition to identifying children who may become obese, the test can also predict how well obese adults will respond to weight loss programs. This dual functionality makes it a powerful tool in the fight against obesity.
Rising Rates of Childhood Obesity in England
According to recent data from NHS England, more than one in five children are overweight or obese when they start primary school, and this number increases to over one in three by the time they leave. Being overweight as a child significantly raises the risk of being overweight as an adult, which in turn increases the likelihood of developing serious health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
The Polygenic Risk Score: A New Tool for Obesity Prediction
Academics used detailed genetic information from over 5 million people to create a tool known as a polygenic risk score. This tool analyzes a person’s genetics to determine their risk of developing obesity. Researchers found that the tool could explain 17.6% of the variation in body mass index (BMI) scores among people in the UK.
The research team, led by academics from the universities of Copenhagen and Bristol, tested whether the risk score was associated with obesity using datasets containing the physical and genetic characteristics of over 500,000 individuals. They also applied the tool to participants in the “Children of the 90s” study, a long-term project in Bristol tracking families as children grow up.
Their findings showed that the tool could successfully predict weight gain during childhood, starting as early as two and a half years old, all the way through adolescence.
Insights from the Study
Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, the authors stated, “Overall, these data show that polygenic scores have the potential to improve obesity prediction, particularly when implemented early in life.”
Roelof Smit, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen, explained, “What makes the score so powerful is the consistency of associations between the genetic score and body mass index before the age of five and through to adulthood—timing that starts well before other risk factors begin to shape their weight later in childhood.”
He emphasized that BMI is not a reliable predictor of a child’s obesity risk in later life, but genetics can offer insights into the risk from an early age. “Essentially, it’s fixed at conception already very early in life, you’re able to essentially quantify what someone’s innate predisposition is for BMI,” he said.
Implications for Weight Loss Interventions
The research team also examined individuals participating in intensive lifestyle intervention programs. They found that people with a higher risk score tended to lose more weight initially but were also more likely to regain it.
Professor Smit noted, “There is a huge amount of variation in how people respond to these interventions. What we observed was the higher someone’s score was, the more they tended to respond to the intervention—people who had a higher score tended to lose more weight in the first year. And we also saw that people who had the higher scores tended to gain more weight.”
Expert Perspectives on Obesity as a Public Health Issue
Dr. Kaitlin Wade, associate professor in epidemiology at the University of Bristol and second author on the paper, highlighted the complexity of obesity as a public health issue. “Obesity is a major public health issue, with many factors contributing to its development, including genetics, environment, lifestyle and behaviour. These factors likely vary across a person’s life, and we believe that some of these originate in childhood.”
She added, “We were delighted to contribute data from the Children of the 90s study to this exceptional and insightful research into the genetic architecture of obesity. We hope this work will contribute to detecting individuals at high risk of developing obesity at an earlier age, which could have a vast clinical and public health impact in the future.”
The Broader Context of Obesity in England
In 2022, 64% of adults in England were estimated to be overweight or living with obesity. In response to this growing concern, MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee recently launched a review into how the government is addressing the nation’s obesity epidemic. This follows ministers’ commitment to “launch a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic.”
Komentar
Posting Komentar