A team of scientists led by a Scottish geneticist has identified two genes that increase the risk of childhood obesity in the largest study of its kind.
The research at the Centre for Applied Genomics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia could lead to new treatments for common childhood obesity.
The research, which was led by the centre's associate director Dr Struan Grant, discovered two new gene variants linked to obesity after collecting data from America, Australia and the UK.
The researchers investigated the DNA of 5530 obese children and identified two variants that lead to a genetic predisposition to common childhood obesity.
Dr Grant, a graduate of Aberdeen University, told The Herald that the study, which has been published in the journal Nature Genetics, opened up new avenues to explore the genetics of childhood obesity.
"These findings may ultimately be useful in helping to design future preventive interventions and treatments for children, based on their individual genomes," he said.
"We have definitively identified and characterised a genetic predisposition to common childhood obesity."
Childhood obesity is one of the most significant health problems in Western Europe, and in particular Scotland, where there is a rising prevalence. Diet and lack of exercise are contributing factors but this new research suggests a genetic component may be part of the problem too.
It is hoped the study could ultimately lead to new treatments and possibly to a simple saliva test that could identify children pre-disposed to obesity.
Dr Grant said he thought the development of such treatments was not far off and that the research represented a significant step towards their development.
"I'm optimistic this will happen – there are inroads being made into every disease but childhood obesity is one that's taken a while to crack.
"What we'll now do is try to find more genes and get a clearer picture of the genetics of the disease to the point where one day we would hope that we tailor that lifestyle advice and dietary advice to the children who are more susceptible to obesity."
Dr Grant said what was not known yet was exactly how the genetic, dietary and environmental factors interact to make children obese. "All we know is that it's not purely lifestyle and environment – that there is a genetic component so we can now look at the interaction between lifestyle, environment and genetics."
The Centre for Applied Genomics collated data from centres around the world that have been working on the genetics of children generally.
The American researchers then looked at the DNA of the children who were obese to identify the variants they discovered. They will now go on to carry out larger studies to try to find more genetic variants linked to the condition.
"The fact that there is a genetic component to childhood obesity means tackling it might not be a simple case of changing the environment," said Dr Grant. "And because it's becoming such a health burden, hopefully we can help alleviate the problem in the future."
Recent figures indicate that one-third of Scots children aged 11 to 15 are either overweight or obese.
The increase in childhood obesity presents a challenge for the future of the NHS because excess weight at this age can translate into serious diseases such as high blood pressure, arthritis and diabetes at a later stage.
The condition is predicted to cost the Scottish economy as much as £3billion by 2030.
Obesity-related deaths in Scotland have increased by more than 40% in a five-year period, with the number of Scots aged 16-64 classed as obese up 10% compared with 15 years ago.
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