Can Obesity Be Predicted?

Jul 20, 2009

Have you ever wondered how susceptible you are to obesity? Don’t you think it would be terrific to know in advance if you have a tendency to get obese so that you can take required precautions and avoid being in a situation? You will be glad to know that a recent study in Monell Center, Philladelphia revealed that by measuring the changes in the blood triglyceride levels post a fatty meal may now indicate an individual’s susceptibility towards obesity because of the dietary factors. According to researchers, a simple blood test would be needed to observe the degree of change in the triglyceride levels after a fatty food intake. This would open the doors to facilitate the identification of people who are at obesity risk in future.

Senior author and researcher Mark Friedman quoted "These findings suggest we may someday be able to use a simple blood test to identify those at risk for obesity," Mark, a PhD who works as a behavioral physiologist at Monell Center added "The ability to identify more susceptible individuals would make it possible to target obesity-prevention resources on those who need them most."

The bases of research, triglycerides, are a part of fat cells that are stored in the fat zones of the body and are transported to these zones through the bloodstream. These cells are a part of the fatty food items and are manufactured within our bodies as well.

Obesity is a problem faced by people worldwide. A high fat and carbohydrate diet that promotes weight gain is blamed mostly for obesity. Since two different people may gain different weight while they consume similar diet it is considered that the genetics of the people is the main factor that drives weight gain behavior in individuals due to high-fat food intake.

At present the world has nothing to predict vulnerability of the individuals towards diet induced obesity. Physicians do not rely on any clinical tests for identifying individuals that may become obese in future. The findings of these current tests coupled with the future studies to thoroughly test the mechanism that brings changes in the blood triglyceride levels do indicate towards the possibility of a blood test becoming a useful tool for the said purposes in future.

"The differences in weight gain associated with high-fat diets indicate that genetically-determined factors contribute to obesity," Friedman says and adds "We have shown that these genetic factors are related to the body’s ability to burn fat. We now need a better understanding of how this relates to blood triglyceride levels."

Posted by admin | Tags: obesity
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