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Children become obese because of the influence of their same-sex
parent, not as a result of genetics, a new study by British
scientists claims.
Scientists from Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of
Exeter and Plymouth say if a young girl has an overweight mother
she is more likely to become obese, with the same applying to boys
and their fathers.
The findings suggest that it is behavioural rather than genetic
factors that have a greater influence in determining whether
children become obese.
According to the study of 226 British families, the scientists
found that obese mums were 10 times more likely to have obese
daughters.
Obese dads were also six times more likely to have an obese
son.
However, the same trend did not exist between mums and their sons
and fathers and daughters.
"Any genetic link between obese parents and their children would be
indiscriminate of gender," the study's director Professor Terry
Wilkin said.
"The clearly defined gender-assortative pattern which our research
has uncovered is an exciting one because it points towards
behavioural factors at work in childhood obesity."
Wilkin said the findings could dramatically affect government
policies on dealing with childhood obesity and its current focus on
an apparent genetic link.
"Money and resources have focused on children over the past decade
in the belief that obese children become obese adults and that
prevention of obesity in children will solve the problem in
adulthood," he said.
"(The study's) evidence supports the opposite hypothesis - that
children are becoming obese due to the influence of their same-sex
parents and that we will need to focus on changing the behaviour of
the adult if we want to combat obesity in the child."
