Crystal Nelson
A recent long-term study shows that many adults are overweight because they were labeled “fat” in childhood. According to the researchers, all children are affected by this effect – regardless of whether they were originally fat or thin.
Many overweight people were labeled “too fat” in childhood. This is confirmed by a US long-term study by the National Institutes of Health, which has now been evaluated by the University of California in Los Angeles. The findings, published in the June issue of the journal Jama Pediatrics, show a striking association between adult obesity and childhood weight-related teasing.
You can talk to any kid “fat”.
The researchers were amazed that the described effect occurred in two-thirds of the subjects observed over a period of nine years – regardless of whether the subjects were already overweight in their childhood or of normal weight. A total of around 2,000 girls – no older than ten – took part in the study.
This is interesting for the researchers because the weight gain observed in the children depends to a certain extent not only on their eating habits or a genetic predisposition but also on a psychologically adapted attitude that was brought to them from outside. According to the researchers, this phenomenon is basically comparable to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Children in whom the criticism of their body weight – whether justified or not – came from family members were also particularly susceptible to weight gain.
On the trial of the anti-fat pill
For years, researchers have been trying to find a way to identify a gene responsible for storing fat in the body. The German researcher Dr. Daniel Kraus from the University of Würzburg now seems to have found this gene. In experiments with mice, the scientist was able to inhibit a gene called nicotinamide-N-methyltransferase, preventing the animals from accumulating fat.
The recently published study shows that in this way, fat storage as a bodily function – which the body uses to create an energy reserve for times when food is scarce – can be switched off. With this, the researchers have come to a small step closer to an anti-fat pill that simply blocks a specific gene.
