According to a report in TIME news, researchers have found a way which will predict newborns' risk of becoming obese during childhood.
Obesity has become a serious concern over the years with the rates almost tripling over the last three decades in the U.S. The researchers have developed a model which will help track child's risk of obesity at the time of birth so an early precaution is taken to improve the child's health.
"Many believe the critical time for the development of obesity is between ages zero and five-before kids go to school," says lead study author Philippe Froguel, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, according to TIME. "Each year after age five is too late, and we wanted to find a way to predict the likelihood at birth. There are many non-genetic factors that are easy to analyze and are costless."
The obesity risk calculator is a based on a formula from the data analyzed on a large scale from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort which includes 4,000 participants born in 1986. Scientist narrowed down the risk factors to five: Birth weight, body mass index-BMI of parents, Number of household members, mother's professional status and smoking habit during pregnancy. All the factors were linked to obesity just like working mothers tend to make fewer meals at home and children more likely to eat high calorie food from restaurants and some children may adopt hereditarily from parents.
"From my work in hospitals, I've been shocked by the lack of knowledge about nutrition, especially from young mothers. Even how to take care of the child if it's crying," says Froguel in the TIME report. "There is not enough education. New parents may think giving food to the child is the only way to get them to stop crying, but if you continue to do that the child could be overweight."
Froguel highlights the importance of this tool and how significantly it can impact an individual when having the knowledge of the factors resulting in obesity. "If you scare the mom, it's not useful, but for social workers and healthcare providers, it is a valuable education tool for high risk groups like new mothers, low income families and children with obese siblings," he says.
