CHICAGO — The odds of obesity appear stacked against black and Latino children starting before birth, new research suggests.
The findings may help explain disproportionately high obesity rates in minority children. Family income is often a factor, but so are cultural customs and beliefs, the study authors said.
They examined more than a dozen circumstances that can increase chances of obesity, and almost every one was more common in black and Latino children than in whites. Factors included eating and sleeping habits in infancy and early childhood, and mothers’ smoking during pregnancy. In a separate, equally troubling study, researchers found signs of inflammation in obese children as young as 3 years old. High levels were more common in blacks and Latinos.
These inflammatory markers have been linked with obesity in adults and are thought to increase chances for developing heart disease. Their significance in early childhood is uncertain, but the study’s lead author says she never thought they would be found in children so young.
“We think that fat cells in the body cause inflammation and that inflammation causes vessel damage,” said University of North Carolina researcher Asheley Cockrell Skinner, the lead author.
The results suggest 3-year-olds with inflammation might have artery changes that could make them prone to later heart problems, although that needs to be examined in future research, she said.
Both studies were released today in the journal Pediatrics.
