Email

Obesity: New test could identify children at risk of obesity – and help parents take action to prevent it happening

Key indicators of future obesity found - Photo: Birmingham Post and Mail

The study in journal Diabetes found a blood test could enable families to change the lifestyles of their children before they start piling on the pounds.

Key indicators of future obesity found – Photo: Birmingham Post and Mail

A simple blood test could predict whether children as young as five are at risk of becoming obese in later life.

The test, which looks at a fat storage gene, will enable parents to change the lifestyles of children before the pounds pile on.

Blood samples from 40 children, aged five to 14, were used to predict how likely they were to store body fat in early life independent of gender, activity and puberty.

Dr Graham Burdge, of Southampton University, said the results could help catch those youngsters at risk of Type 2 diabetes in childhood and heart disease in adulthood.

He said: The study shows being overweight in childhood is not just due to lifestyle.”

Related posts

Death toll in attack on Christmas market in Germany rises to 5 and more than 200 injured

US Senate passes government funding bill, averts shutdown

Trump wants EU to buy more US oil and gas or face tariffs