Monday, January 19, 2009

Childhood Obesity Linked To Newly Discovered Genes

“Scientists studying the gene maps of thousands of Europeans found three new genetic variations that increase the risk for obesity and said that together with what we already know about genes and obesity the findings could help to develop tools that can predict which young children are at risk of becoming obese. The study was the work of researchers from Imperial College London, UK, the French National Research Institute CNRS, and other research centres in Europe and Canada, and was published online in Nature Genetics on 18th January. Co-author Professor Philippe Froguel, from the Department of Genomic Medicine at Imperial College London said: As Froguel explained, understanding the genetic basis of obesity is the first step, and once we know which genes are responsible, ‘We can develop ways to screen children to find out who is most at risk of becoming obese. ‘Hopefully we can then intervene with measures such as behavioural therapy, to make sure a child forms healthy eating habits and does not develop a weight problem,’ he added.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/135895.php

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