Is Child Obesity Hereditary or Parental Negligence? Introduction Child obesity is not merely an issue in the world but it has been seen as an epidemic. The number of overweight and obese children has increased at an alarming rate over the past years, and there is no chance of it slowly down without action being taken. Children suffering from obesity face an increased risk of compromised physical and mental well-being. Obesity in children is a significant public health concern. In addition, there is evidence that the incidence of children who are overweight is increasing despite efforts to the contrary. The consequences of child obesity are far reaching, implicating not only children on a physical scale but also socially and mentally. However, …show more content…
A study conducted by the University College London in the United Kingdom proposed that body weight is strongly influenced by genes. In the study, researchers used a new method called Genome Wide Complex Trait Analysis, to investigate the molecular genetic heritability of body weight in children (Llewelyn, 2013). The data collected was from a population of 2,269 children aged between 8 and 11 years old. They were looking to discover whether children who happen to be more genetically similar might also be more similar in body weight. Using the GCTA method, the researchers found that additive effects of multiple genes across the whole genome accounted for 30% of individual difference in childhood body weight (Llewelyn, 2013). Ultimately, these findings suggest there are hundreds of other genetic variants influencing body weight that are yet to be discovered. In all things considered one might find these findings important because they confirm that genes play a very important role in determining body weight. As of today, only a few genetic variants have been discovered and these explain a very small amount of individual differences in body weight. These findings suggest there are hundreds of other genetic variants influencing body weight that are yet to be discovered (Llewelyn, 2013). Therefore, the genetic history of a family can be the result of the child obesity but it all varies, as it is a topic that continues to be further