Is childhood obesity hereditary?

The problem of obesity requires our attention, especially there is a kind of obesity that has genetic factors. For example, if both parents are obese, then the probability of their children being obese is as high as 70%. Therefore, families with obesity genes should pay more attention to maintaining their body shape.

1. Genetic factors

Obesity is often related to genetics. According to statistics, if both parents are of normal weight, the obesity rate of their children is 10%; if one of the parents is obese, the obesity rate of their children is 50%;

If both parents are obese, the obesity incidence rate of their children is as high as 70%. Identical twins who grow up in the same environment have similar weights; even if they grow up in different environments, the difference in their weights is smaller than that between fraternal twins. Not only is obesity hereditary in obese patients, but the location of fat distribution and bone condition are also hereditary. The genetic tendency to obesity is also manifested in an increase in the number and/or size of fat cells.

2. Diet, lifestyle and social environment factors

Obese people often have a history of increased eating, eat a large amount of food, like to eat sweets or add food between meals, which causes excess energy. Under the same calorie conditions, people have the habit of eating before going to bed and eating more at dinner. Lack of physical activity or bed rest due to fractures, tuberculosis, hepatitis or other reasons can lead to low calorie consumption and obesity. Especially after middle age, the amount of physical labor gradually decreases, and fat often accumulates in the abdomen and buttocks. Most people become obese when they stop exercising regularly. In addition, the energy consumption of obese people is significantly different from that of normal people. They use less energy than normal people when resting and doing light activities. Their anabolism is more hyperactive than that of normal people under the same dietary conditions. Their basal metabolic rate is relatively low, resulting in less energy consumption and causing obesity.

There is a certain relationship between changes in the social environment and the occurrence of obesity. Before liberation, the incidence of obesity was very low due to the low living standards. After liberation, as living standards improved, the incidence of obesity increased dramatically. Family education is related to childhood obesity. Studies have found that only children or the youngest child in a family are more likely to be obese. The main reasons are the mistaken belief that the fatter the baby is fed, the better, resulting in children being overnourished since the breastfeeding period; excessive pampering, leading to the development of bad habits, such as too many snacks, especially candies; unnecessary nutritional drugs that stimulate appetite and increase food intake; and lack of necessary physical exercise. It is now recognized that childhood overnutrition is the main cause of obesity in children and adults.

3. Hypothalamus and Higher Nervous Activity

The satiety center is located in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, and the feeding center is located in the ventrolateral nucleus of the hypothalamus. There are nerve fiber connections between them, and they regulate and restrict each other in function. Animal experiments have shown that these two centers are affected by sugar, fat and amino acids in the body. Therefore, when the hypothalamus is diseased or certain metabolic changes occur in the body, it can affect the appetite center, causing overeating and obesity. This is the main cause of hypothalamic syndrome. In simple obesity, it is often believed that there are functional changes in the hypothalamus.

The higher nervous activity of the cerebral cortex affects the appetite center of the hypothalamus through neurotransmitters, and plays a certain role in regulating hunger and satiety. Mental factors often affect appetite, and the function of the appetite center is subject to the mental state. When the mind is overly tense and the adrenergic nerves are stimulated with sympathetic nerve excitement, appetite is suppressed;