Childhood Obesity May Be Caused by Missing DNA

[king catfish]

It just irks me that people would rather make excuses then admit the truth even to themselves. I admit that I'm a hedonist but I'm too damn hyper to be overweight Y'know in some cultures a man with a belly gets respect.

It doesn't irk me. I just feel sorry for people who are afraid of the truth. I like to eat. A lot. I am a little heavy. I know exactly why. I offset my tendency towards being fat by working out. A lot.

It just seems so simple to me.

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

I will concede that parents are contributing to the obesity because they are the providers of the food, but I do not agree that they should be labelled abusive and I do not agree this study of the missing DNA is an excuse. We are talking about severe obesity in children (those who are in excess of 200 pounds by 10 years of age).

I can only speculate on the difficulties of raising a child that has a genetic flaw that causes the child to be constantly hungry. I can imagine the child is constantly crying, whining and doing everything in its power to get food. Perhaps the child even eats non-food items when food is not given to them. This must wear a parent down and perhaps the easier route is to feed the child rather than listen to the constant complaining. The parent has no idea why the child is like this and social services (up until this study has been released) have no idea either and remove the child from the parents custody citing "excessive feeding" as the cause of abuse. That parent must feel like a total failure.

But now there is a study that shows some people have a chunk of missing DNA that causes this excessive hunger and those parents who have such children require support from Social Services to manage these children. Maybe the parents wll have to surrender their children to Social Services if they cannot manage them. Similar to Prader-Willi Syndrome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdA7amVMrBc&NR=1

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Will you trade abusive for negligent ?

 

[Skeptical Greg]

After all is said and done, the study seems flawed to me ..

It appears they only studied the genes of obese children ..
...And found the target deletion in one of 1,200 ( obese ) subjects ...

How do we know the same gene won't be found missing in 1 of 1,200 skinny children ?

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

Will you trade abusive for negligent ?

Actually, I should have just used the words "blamed" the parents.

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

After all is said and done, the study seems flawed to me ..

It appears they only studied the genes of obese children ..
...And found the target deletion in one of 1,200 ( obese ) subjects ...

How do we know the same gene won't be found missing in 1 of 1,200 skinny children ?

Where did you get that from? I read they compared the DNA profile of obese children with others of a normal weight they found certain parts of the genome were missing in the obese group.

 

[Aepervius]

No. It is thermodynamically impossible for obesity to be caused by anything other than overeating and lack of exercise.

It's the parents' responsibility to enforce moderation in eating and reasonable amounts of exercise just as much as it's the parents' responsibility to enforce that type I diabetics get their insulin supplements or phenylketonuriacs get the appropriately low phenylalanine-diet and protein supplements.

/bad sarcastic joke

Hey, I dunno. Everybody search PMM and OOverunity/free energy device with gravity and magnet, and electricity, but in reality the true overunity device are obese people which gain more weight and fat than they eat. Somebody tell Steorn.

/bad sarcastic joke

I do agree that bad excessive eating is the parent responsability. But when you have a child reach a certain age, you cannot watch them over 24/7. So what do you do if they stuff themselves at other place, or at time when you have them not under control ? Ultimately under a certain age, the parent are 100% responsible, and after reaching legal adult age, the kid 100% responsible. but I do not see it as a staircase form on the responsability%, I see it as a slope in the last years before "adulthood".

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Where did you get that from? I read they compared the DNA profile of obese children with others of a normal weight they found certain parts of the genome were missing in the obese group.

Can you quote from your link ? I just don't see it .. ( where they looked at the DNA of normal children )

I see:

The British researchers checked the DNA of 300 children who'd become very fat, on the order of 220 pounds by age 10. They looked for deletions or extra copies of DNA segments.
__________________________________

...found in less than 1 percent of about 1,200 severely obese children.

( .. change my 1 in 1200 to 1% )

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

Can you quote from your link ? I just don't see it .. ( where they looked at the DNA of normal children )

I see:



( .. change my 1 in 1200 to 1% )

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8394991.stm

"Genome scan

By comparing the DNA profile of obese children with others of a normal weight they found certain parts of the genome were missing in the obese group.

In particular they zeroed in on a missing part of chromosome 16 which seemed to have a strong link to severe obesity. "

It would probably be better if we found the actual study instead of the bits in the various newpapers. I believe it was published in Nature. I'm going to google around and see if that study has been published online somewhere.

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

Well, I don't have a subscription to "Nature" so am unable to read the study (assuming the entire study is published there).

 

[Skeptical Greg]

O.K. - That wasn't in your original link ..

Still, according to the original link, the missing part occurred in less than 1% ..

How does that equate to " ... a strong link to severe obesity . "



What would a weak link look like ?

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

O.K. - That wasn't in your original link ..

Still, according to the original link, the missing part occurred in less than 1% ..

How does that equate to " ... a strong link to severe obesity . "



What would a weak link look like ?

You are correct that was not in the original link - I later linked to the BBC article. I don't know how it equates to the a "strong link in obesity" - that's just what the article says.

My OP is about the relief the parents must feel to know that their child's obesity should not be blamed on them. I know we can argue back and forth that the parents should be able to control the food, but after watching the youtube video Prader-Willi Syndrome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdA7amVMrBc&NR=1

...wow. I can see why a parent would give their child food, when withholding it elicits such antisocial behaviour.

I Just have great empathy for these parents and obviously the children who suffer from these genetic problems.

 

[drkitten]

I do agree that bad excessive eating is the parent responsability. But when you have a child reach a certain age, you cannot watch them over 24/7. So what do you do if they stuff themselves at other place, or at time when you have them not under control ? Ultimately under a certain age, the parent are 100% responsible, and after reaching legal adult age, the kid 100% responsible. but I do not see it as a staircase form on the responsability%, I see it as a slope in the last years before "adulthood".

Yes, but if I read the linked article correctly, we're talking about ten year olds here, ten year olds that were already over 200 pounds.

That's not a near-adult we're talking about, one who should be routinely left without any sort of parental supervision.

Especially if the parents know that this particular child has a tendency to indulge in self-destructive behavior (like massive overeating). This isn't a child that simply sneaks a candy bar every once in a while.

 

[GreenLines]

Obesity is nine parts nurture, one part nature.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

I Just have great empathy for these parents and obviously the children who suffer from these genetic problems.

I have sympathy for them ..

But to suggest the parents are blameless is without merit ..

Making a big deal out of the genetic link without acknowledging the root cause ( too much food ) is irresponsible..

It's like they;re saying... " Aww, it's O.K., it's not your fault, it's those nasty genes .. Here, have another donut .. "

 

[Uncayimmy]

Huh? Thermodynamically impossible? You're way overstating.
A human's change in weight is caused by the difference between what goes into the human and what goes out. But from a purely mechanical (non-biological) point of view, there is plenty of room for a weight change from sources other than caloric intake and expenditure. As a simple example, water retention forms a major weight issue for many people. And, while there's no reason to believe it is case, it is certainly possible for the body to create and maintain mass based on factors other than raw caloric intake.

If you're going to nitpick, do it correctly. The reference was specifically to obesity, not body weight. Obesity is defined by body fat, not water retention. Nobody is "cured" of obesity through the use of diuretics. They are "cured" through some combination of food intake and exercise to reduce body fat. Water retention may be a by-product of being obese, but it's not part of the definition.

 

[kellyb]

Obesity is nine parts nurture, one part nature.

I don't think that's really what the evidence indicates.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779842

Although the increased prevalence of obesity is undoubtedly driven by environmental factors, the evidence that inherited factors profoundly influence human fat mass is equally compelling. Twin and adoption studies indicate that up to 70% of the interindividual variance in fat mass is determined by genetic factors.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Twin and adoption studies indicate that up to 70% of the interindividual variance in fat mass is determined by genetic factors.

If this is true, then why the dramatic rise in obesity in the last few decades ?

I understand a genetic proclivity toward obesity, but the condition will only manifest itself when the food supply and lifestyle conditions allow it to .

The ease with which one becomes fat may be genetic; but that leaves the individual with the responsibility to manage the diet and exercise part.

In the case of children, most of that responsibility falls on the parents.

 

[kellyb]

If this is true, then why the dramatic rise in obesity in the last few decades ?

Part (but not all) of it was that was used to be "normal weight" was reclassified by the NIH in the 1990's as "overweight", the old "overweight" became the new "obese", etc.
People also gain weight as they get older, and people are living longer than ever now.

ETA:

In the case of children, most of that responsibility falls on the parents.

In the case of freak-show worthy 80 lb toddlers that eat 3 Big Macs for breakfast, I definitely agree that that's the parent's fault. In the case of "normal chubby" kids who are fed a regular diet and exercise a normal amount, I'm not so sure.
I think the genetic aspect introduces a "shades of grey" aspect to the issue in many cases.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

You seem to be quite apologetic about this... Why ?

All you have to do is compare street scenes of throngs of people from the 40's - 50's with similar scenes from the 80's - now .. The trend is obvious .