CHILDHOOD BODY WEIGHT PREDICTS FUTURE DIABETES, HEART DISEASE RISK: NEW STUDY

A study modelling how genes may influence a child's body mass index over time has found that BMI at age 10 and overall growth rate between ages one and 18 might be important factors, as the two are more likely linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease in later life.

- ‘TDG NETWORK

The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could help better understand the underlying biology of healthy growth across childhood, author Nicole Warrington, senior research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia, said.

“We found that about one quarter of the differences in how children’s body weight changes from age one to 18 years is due to genetics,” Warrington said.