Parents are Given Access to a Free Obesity Predictor for their Children

Medical researchers from the School of Public Health at Imperial College of London have announced that the first highly reliable method for calculating a child’s personal risk of becoming obese is now available. What’s more, this obesity predictor will be available for free, and it provides accurate analysis without having to take invasive measurements. The news was published in the latest edition of the peer reviewed journal, Public Library of Science.

The Calculator only needs a Few Pieces of Information

According to the research team, all that is required for the free obesity predictor to work is the weight of the child at birth, the body mass index of his/her parents, the professional status of the mother, whether she smoked at all during her pregnancy, and the exact number of people living in the household. Upon providing all of this information, the calculator can then give the parents an accurate prediction of their child’s risk of obesity.

In order to produce this obesity predictor, scientists ran an extensive evaluation of 4000 Finnish children which started with a comprehensive genetic profile of each and every child. Researchers had to keep records of all the children beginning from birth until they turned 18.

A Set of Common Variables for Obesity

During this research, investigators were unable to identify any common genetic trait or variable, but they did find that environmental factors, such as the parents’ behavior, proved to have a strong effect on the child’s outcome. From these behaviors, they were able to form a common set of variables that proved to be more than 80% reliable in predicting outcomes for children in both Italy and the United States.

The primary objective behind this ambitious international project was to accurately identify children who were at the most risk for obesity at the earliest stage possible (as soon as they were born). Once these children had been identified, a number of strategies for preventing obesity and other associated medical conditions like heart disease and diabetes could be implemented.

Obesity Research at the UAB

Medical researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have spent a lot of time looking into the growing prevalence of obesity amongst children in America. As one of the premier clinical trial facilities in Alabama, UAB has been uniquely qualified to conduct some of the most promising clinical studies on obesity. Their research teams have found that the prevalence of obesity amongst children has increased exponentially, with nearly 20 to 25% of the children in the United States now considered to be in that overweight to obese weight range.

What the Future Holds…..

Unfortunately, UAB may not be able to continue conducting many of these valuable Birmingham clinical trials for much longer. There have been some rumors that the federal government may decide to cut much of the funding for many of Birmingham’s anti-obesity programs and research currently situated at UAB. However, this depends on how the government handles the looming fiscal cliff that is set before them.

In any case, the childhood obesity risk calculator will still be made available for free. In this area at least, concerned parents will be given the ability to assess the future needs of their newborn child and then plan accordingly for whatever may need to be done.