News Release

26 September 2007

Grant To Study Children For Obesity Cause

A team from the Auckland School of Medicine which has been studying the health of 600 children for 11 years will now extend the study to better understand what causes childhood obesity, following the awarding of a grant by the National Heart Foundation.

Professor Ed Mitchell and his team have been tracking the children since birth, all of whom were originally in the Auckland and Waitemata District Health Board catchment areas.

All participants were enrolled in the study by their parents or caregivers.  The children were originally the focus of a questionnaire at 12 months of age, followed by physical examinations at three and half, and seven years of age.

“We’ve been following these 600 children since birth so at 11 years of age, we now have some great data that will enable us to answer some very interesting health-related questions,” Professor Mitchell said.

“For example, at seven years of age we identified that obesity tracks over age. Therefore, if a child was overweight at three years of age, they were much more likely to still be overweight at seven years.

“The immediate message thus far is that action needs to be taken early on to avoid obesity and to also treat it. Another message is that mothers who are obese are more likely to have children who are also obese.

“This could be due to genetics or diet which is what we will now be researching thanks to the Heart Foundation grant.”

The grant will enable Professor Mitchell to now study the determinants of childhood obesity and risk of cardiovascular disease from research carried out within the study group of 11 year olds.

Upcoming data gathering includes putting monitors on each child to monitor every minute of activity over one week, to help track weight and identify whether inactivity causes obesity or is a consequence of it.

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