“Many believe the critical time for the development of obesity is between ages zero and five—before kids go to school,” says lead study author Philippe Froguel, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. “Each year after age five is too late, and we wanted to find a way to predict the likelihood at birth. There are many non-genetic factors that are easy to analyze and are costless.”
To develop their formula, called the obesity risk calculator, the researchers analyzed data from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort that tracks a population of over 4,000 participants who were born in 1986.
Fat Thanks to Sona S. for the tip!