A baby’s weight gain in the first year of life could determine whether they become obese as a child, and this programme aims to find out exactly how and why. Childhood obesity is a major public health problem with no proven prevention strategies, yet rates are rising even in very young children. The consequences for a child’s health, development, and adult health are serious. Researchers will analyse genetic, dietary, and growth patterns from several large UK birth cohort studies—including ALSPAC, the Southampton Women’s Study, and the Cambridge Baby Growth Study—to build prediction models for obesity risk. If successful, this work could change how doctors and health visitors monitor infant growth, and lead to the first evidence-based interventions to prevent obesity before it starts. A randomised controlled trial will test whether educating mothers during pregnancy to avoid overfeeding their babies can prevent rapid weight gain. Future targeted interventions could then be developed for infants identified as high-risk, potentially shifting the focus from treating obesity to stopping it at its root.
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The aim of this programme is to predict and prevent childhood obesity by identifying genetic, dietary and other factors that act during infancy. The specific objectives are to identify genetic factors and patterns of early infant diet and growth that predict childhood obesity, and to develop and test interventions to avoid excessive infant weight gain and childhood obesity. |Childhood obesity is a major public health problem. Research is important because 1) currently there are no proven interventions to prevent childhood obesity, 2) rates of obesity are rising even in young children, 3) childhood obesity has important consequences for childhood health and development, as well as adult health.|This research is being performed in a number of UK birth cohort studies, including close collaborations with the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the Southampton Womens Study (SWS), and the Cambridge Baby Growth Study (MRC Epidemiology Unit & Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge). Candidate genetic factors for study in DNA samples collected in children are selected by in collaboration with the Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge Genetics of Energy & Metabolism (GEM) consortium. Prediction models for risk of childhood obesity and its complications will be based on collaborative studies between investigators from a wide range of UK and international birth cohort studies. |A randomised controlled trial will be performed by recruiting mothers during pregnancy to test whether education to avoid excess infant nutrient intake will prevent rapid infant weight gain and childhood obesity risk. Future targeted interventions will be developed for testing in infants and young children identified to have high risk of childhood obesity.
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