A study from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that one of the genes that may be responsible for causing type 2 diabetes may also be linked to the risk of childhood obesity
According to a press release, study leader Struan F.A. Grant, Ph.D., a researcher and associate director of the Center for Applied Genomics of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia says, "This finding suggests that there may be genetic activity during childhood that lays the foundation for the later development of type 2 diabetes."
Obesity is thought to be a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 typically occurs in adults over 40, although in recent years the incidence of type 2 diabetes is affecting younger adults and even kids. More studies on genes associated with type 2 diabetes are needed, but if the same genes that cause diabetes also cause childhood obesity, then it may someday be possible to prevent diabetes, by treating obesity in kids.
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