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APPA Bulletin |
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May- June-July 2005 Vol. 42, No 14 NEW RESEARCHBaby clues to obesityBabies who gain weight faster than normal during their first six months of life are more likely to be overweight at age two, which could foreshadow obesity during childhood and beyond, British and Canadian researchers report. Doctors know from earlier research that babies born small are more likely to be obese later in life and that children who are overweight at age two are more likely to obese as adults. This study of 1,650 babies focused on the rate of weight gain in their first six months and concluded that the track to obesity is set by the half-year mark. “This is a new maker that might be a predictor of future body weight,” says Andrea Dunaif of Northwestern University in Chicago, United States (US) and president of The Endocrine Society. “Obesity is incredibly hard to treat. Ways to identify children at risk are very important, so we can focus prevention efforts to those children.” Surprisingly, what and how much babies were fed had no effect on the findings, the researchers noted. One possibility for the marker is that during pregnancy, a metabolic switch is activated in the foetus, causing the baby to be born small but with the ability to store extra calories efficiently as a survival mechanism, says Kenneth Copeland, University of Oklahoma (US) professor of pediatric diabetes and endocrinology. The researchers did not report a cause-and-effect relationship in their findings. “If a baby gains weight real rapidly, it predicts obesity in childhood. That doesn’t necessarily mean it causes it,” Copeland says. The next step is more research to see whether the relationship between rapid weight gain in infancy and later obesity can be influenced by breast-feeding, nutritional improvements or other interventions, he adds ~ Source: New York Times, June 3, 2005 |
This buletin is produced quarterly by the APPA secretariat
Latest Bulletin: Aug-Sep-Oct 2005 Vol 43, No 15 (will be updated soon)
May- June-July 2005 Vol. 42, No 14 Content: EAPRO Consultation Concludes: Violence is Not Inevitable Aircraft Noise May Affect Children’s LearningWHO/UNICEF Global Immunization Strategy That Aims to Avert Millions of Deaths New HIV/AIDS data reveals gravity of situation for children in Asia and the Pacific ‘A’ Rating For 95 Percent Attendance Ratio In Malaysia
Baby clues to obesityLeading Paediatricians In Asia Reports from member societies Activities Of The Philippine Pediatric SocietyIndian Academy Of Pediatrics Activities
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Updated 11th January 2006 |
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© appassoc.org 2006
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