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Childhood obesity is set before the age of five, ministers will hear from researchers later.

Compared to children in the 1980s, today's youngsters are fatter and most of their excess weight gain happens before school age, they will say.

This suggests initiatives to prevent childhood obesity should be started before school, suggest the authors.

The EarlyBird Diabetes study of 233 children from birth to puberty is being published in the journal Pediatrics.

One in four children aged four to five in England are overweight, latest figures show.

Disease 'of our time'

At birth, the children in the study were of similar weight to babies 25 years ago, but had gained more fat by puberty compared with children of the same age in the 1980s.

The bulk of this excess weight was gained before the children were five.

Weight at five years bore little relation to birth weight, but closely predicted weight at nine years old.

Before an obese girl reaches school age she will have already gained 90% of her excess weight, and boys will have gained 70% of their excess weight.

Lead researcher Professor Terry Wilkin, of the Peninsula Medical School, Plymouth, said: "When they reach the age of five the die seems to be cast, at least until the age of puberty.

"What is causing it is very difficult to know."

He said there must be a factor now that was not there 25 years ago which is making today's children obese.

And, given the young age, this is likely to be in a child's home rather than school environment and linked to upbringing rather than schooling.

Diet blamed

Rather than lack of physical exercise, he believes diet could be to blame.

"It is entirely possible that the calorie density of food and portion sizes could be higher."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7786229.stm

Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a mind problem.

The findings suggest the brain plays the dominant role in controlling appetite, and that obesity cannot easily be blamed on metabolic flaws.

Two international studies, published in Nature Genetics, examined samples from thousands of people for the tiniest genetic changes.

Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.

This suggests that the brain's impact on appetite and eating behaviour may be more important that any genetic variation which alters the body's ability to lay down or burn up fat.

All seven variants were picked up by a study led by Icelandic company deCODE Genetics, while six of the seven were also identified in a second, independent study by an international team dubbed the Giant consortium.

In both cases the researchers scrutinised DNA samples from thousands of people to assess the impact of tiny changes.

Each of the variants identified had a small impact on obesity, but a person carrying all of them was typically around 1.5kg - 2kg heavier than average.

It is estimated that as much as 70% of the variation in body mass index - a measure of obesity based on height and weight - is down to genetics, rather than environmental factors.

Researcher Dr Kari Stefansson, of deCODE Genetics said: "This suggests that as we work to develop better means of combating obesity, we need to focus on the regulation of appetite at least as much as on the metabolic factors of how the body uses and stores energy."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7783088.stm

Gene 'triggers unhealthy eating'

People who carry a gene variant linked to obesity eat an average of 100 extra calories per meal, research suggests.

The key variant of the FTO gene is thought to be carried by 63% of people.

The New England Journal of Medicine study, by the University of Dundee, carried out eating tests on 100 children aged four to 10.

Those with the gene variant chose foods with more sugar and fat, suggesting they were instinctively drawn to them rather than healthy options.

Each child in the study took part in three eating tests, offering a range of different food types.

The researchers found that the gene variant had no impact on the speed at which the body broke down food, or on how active people were.

There was also no evidence that those who carried it had any trouble registering when they were full up and should stop eating.

However, they did seem to be instinctively attracted to more calorific foods.

Lead researcher Professor Colin Palmer said: "This work demonstrates that this gene does not lead to obesity without overeating and suggests that obesity linked to this gene could be modulated by careful dietary control.

"What it effectively shows is that the people with the relevant variants on the gene have a trait which may lead them to eat more unhealthy, fattening foods."

Professor Palmer said the findings also reinforced the idea that soaring obesity rates were closely linked to the widespread availability of cheap, calorie-packed foods.

For people carrying the relevant gene variant, these may simply be too tempting to resist.

Research has shown that people carrying one copy of the key FTO variant (49% of the population) have a 30% increased risk of obesity, while for those carrying two copies the increased risk is almost 70%.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7773146.stm