Big kids getting TOO big
August 2006The epidemic of obesity in young children has been far worse in the tallest, fastest-growing group, according to research led by Dr Iain Buchan.
The team, which includes colleagues at Great Ormond Street Hospital's Institute of Child Health and The University of Liverpool, found that faster-growing children might be especially vulnerable to the fattening effects of the 'obesogenic environment,' which is causing society to get fatter.
It looked at the weights of 50,000 three-year-olds from the Wirral (where BMI has been rising for 16 years) from 1988 to 2003, and found that mean BMI rose by 0.7 kg/m2 while mean height fell by 0.5 cm. Among the shortest 10% of the children however mean BMI rose by just 0.12 kg/m2, compared with 1.38 kg/m2 among the tallest 10% - a 12-fold difference.
Dr Buchan, Director of the Northwest Institute for Bio-Health Informatics, said: "The largest increase in body mass index (BMI) occurred in the tallest children, while that for the smallest hardly changed; tall stature has therefore become important for child obesity. This shows a drive to adiposity (fatness) in young children involving both growth and appetite, with fast-growing and hungrier children more exposed to the obesogenic environment.
"Our study shows that the UK needs to change its eating and exercise habits. The more children eat, the more they show the effects of what we are offering them - too much unhealthy food and too little chance to exercise.
"We have shown a strong relationship between child growth and obesity - the next challenge is to work out exactly how this happens. One area that needs more study is very early feeding, as animal studies show that obesity might be prevented permanently by reducing the amount of calories consumed by the young in the first few weeks of life. Exploring whether or not this is a safe and effective approach to preventing obesity in humans needs careful research."
