Blood tests pinpoint children at risk of obesity:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Two simple blood tests could help doctors identify children at risk of becoming obese adults. In a Australian study of 37 children of normal weight, those with either relatively lower levels of the hormone leptin or relatively higher levels of cholesterol were more likely to have gained excess weight 12 months later. Obesity in children is increasing and a predictive test for the risk of obesity would be clinically useful. The results, which need to be confirmed in larger studies over a longer period of time, were published in the International Journal of Obesity (February).