A new study has found that a simple blood test, which can read DNA, could be used to predict obesity levels in kids.
Researchers at the Universities of Southampton, Exeter and Plymouth used the test to assess the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene, a gene that regulates fat storage in the body.
The researchers found that the test, when carried out on children at five years old, differentiates between children with a high body fat and those with a low body fat when they were older.
It was found that a rise in DNA methylation levels of 10 per cent at five years was associated with up to 12 per cent more body fat at 14 years.
Lead researcher Dr Graham Burdge, University of Southampton, said that it can be difficult to predict when children are very young, which children will put on weight or become obese.
He said that their study has revealed that being overweight or obese in childhood is not just due to lifestyle, but may also involve important basic processes that control our genes.
Burdge added that they hope the study will help them to develop and test new ways to prevent children developing obesity which can be introduced before a child starts to gain excess weight.
The study was published in the journal Diabetes.
