A genetic factor that may play a part in childhood obesity

Almost 2 in 5 children in Tennessee are overweight. We are #1 in the US. That is not good news. Most children who are overweight tend to stay that way as adults. They have two times the risk for heart disease. And four times the risk for diabetes. Even if they lose weight when they get older, the risks do not go away. Many things can cause us to be overweight. Eating too much. Not enough exercise. But genetics may also play a small part. Scientists know that changes in some genes can change how we process certain foods. We are all born with some gene changes. Most of us cannot process foods like milk or cheese. But some of us can. We have a gene change that allows us to do this. Other people cannot have foods that have a certain amino acid. They have a gene change that does not let them process it. Scientists have found a gene change that affects how some people process a type of fat. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will use BioVU to find out more. They will look for children who are and are not obese. They will check for the gene change. They want to find out if the gene change is more common in obese children. Their results may help us predict which children may become obese. This could help us stop children from gaining too much weight. We want all children to be healthy and live long lives.