5 QUESTIONS TO PREDICT IF A CHILD WILL BECOME OBESE FROM BIRTH !

A LIST of five simple signs which experts believe can help 

determine if a baby will become fat is being made available to 

parents for the first time.

Childhood obesity experts have uncovered the factors which 

can determine a newborn’s future waistline – a baby’s birth 

weight, the body mass index (BMI) of both parents, the number 

of people in the household, a mother’s profession and whether 

she smoked during pregnancy.

They hope the formula will help families and health 

professionals identify at-risk youngsters. The latest Scottish 

Health Survey revealed only two-thirds of children (65.6 per 

cent) had a healthy weight – down from 70.3 in 1998. It also 

showed almost two-thirds (64.3 per cent) of adults in Scotland 

are now overweight or obese.

A separate Scottish Government study also highlighted how 

one in ten Scots children is already clinically obese by the time 

they start primary school.

Childhood obesity is a leading cause of early type-2 diabetes 

and heart and circulatory disease in later life, health experts 

have warned. The new formula has been developed by the 

School of Public Health at Imperial 
College London, and is 

based on findings of a study carried out in Finland in 1986.

Scientists found that while genetic profiles were unreliable, 

non-genetic information readily available at birth could predict 

which children would become obese.

The formula has also been tested on thousands of youngsters 

in Italy and the USA. The 20 per cent predicted to have the 

highest risk at birth went on to make up 80 per cent of obese 

children in later life, the researchers said.

Study leader Professor Philippe Froguel, of Imperial College, 

said: “This test takes very little time, it doesn't require any lab 

tests and it doesn't cost 
anything.

“All the data used are well-known risk factors for 
childhood 

obesity but this is the first time they have been used all together 

to predict from the time of birth the likelihood of a child 

becoming obese.”

The team said families with high-risk infants could benefit from 

dietician and psychology services from an earlier stage in a 

youngster’s life to try and help the family make choices which 

should lessen the chances of a child becoming overweight.

This would include making sure they ate the correct diet and 

took part in regular exercise at recommended healthy levels for 

their age group.

Prof Froguel said: “Once a young child becomes obese, it’s 

difficult for them to lose weight so prevention is the best 

strategy and it has to begin as early as possible.

“Unfortunately, public campaigns have been rather ineffective 

at preventing obesity in school-age children.”

Key indicators

The five questions are:

1 What is the baby’s birth weight?

2 What is the Body Mass Index (BMI) of both mother and 

father?

3 How many members are there in the baby’s household?

4 What is the mother’s profession? (unemployed/manual 

skilled/non-manual skilled/professional)

5 Did the mother smoke during pregnancy?