New study by the University of Exeter Medical School has found that younger children are more likely to be obese if their parents are.
This hardly seems like rocket science really, does it? The children presumably share the same genetic predispositions as their obese parents and are also forming their eating habits by watching them.
Ireland’s obesity levels have exceeded the European average and according to SafeFood 1 in 4 Irish children are overweight or obese.
The study, carried out in conjunction with the Early Bird trust for diabetes research, also uncovered that the causes of obesity in children vary depending on their age. Therefore depending on what stage the child is at, different approaches are required for handling the issue effectively.
The study was published yesterday (Monday April 27) in the International Journal of Obesity, and compared data of children in the 1980s with that of today’s children and found that obesity rates had risen from around 5 per cent to 16 per cent in 25 years. There was no notable difference in the birth weight of children from each group and yet the by the age of five there was an increase of obesity in the contemporary group – 4 per cent of boys and 5 per cent of girls – in comparison to the 80s group in which the rate of obesity was just 2 per cent. Of the contemporary group both boys and girls were found to gain excess weight each year so that by the age of 16 years, 11 percent of the boys and 16 per cent of the girls were obese.
The study found that the majority of children who were obese by the age of five years had obese parents – this increase was not reflected in the rest of the generation. In older children the research found that the increase in obesity appeared to affect the whole age group regardless of parental health. This suggests that parenting is the main influence on weight gain in the early years while more general factors come into play in the later years.
Professor Terence Wilkin, who lead the study, says:
“Childhood obesity is one of the greatest health issues of our time. If we are to develop strategies to intervene effectively, we must first understand the cause. This study indicates for the first time that childhood obesity has different causes, depending on the age of the child. We now need further studies to explore this in more depth, as it could have significant implications for healthcare.”
