Medical Bulletin 13/May/2025

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Childhood Belly Fat Patterns May Predict Heart and Metabolic Risks by Age 10

New research presented at the 2025 European Congress on Obesity reveals that children with progressively increasing waist-to-height ratios from infancy face significantly higher cardiometabolic and cardiovascular risks by the age of 10. The study, part of the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood, is the largest of its kind to track the impact of central obesity trajectories in early life on long-term health outcomes.

Researchers followed 700 children from one week of age through to 10 years, analyzing waist-to-height ratio patterns and comparing them with a range of biomarkers for heart and metabolic health. The children underwent 14 clinical assessments, and cardiometabolic risk scores were calculated using key indicators including HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, blood pressure, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

The analysis identified three distinct waist-to-height ratio trajectories: a stable reference group (comprising about two-thirds of the children), a “rising then stabilising” group, and a “slow-rising” group, each making up roughly one in six participants. Children in the “slow-rising” group—those whose central obesity steadily increased over time—showed the most concerning outcomes. By age 10, they had significantly higher levels of systolic blood pressure, C-peptide, HOMA-IR, GlycA, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, all markers of inflammation and insulin resistance. They also had lower levels of protective HDL cholesterol.

Compared to the reference group, these children had cardiometabolic risk scores 0.79 standard deviations higher and cardiovascular risk scores 0.53 standard deviations higher—indicating a significant shift toward poorer health. Notably, much of the elevated risk was attributed to increased belly fat by age 10.

In contrast, children in the “rising then stabilising” group had lower HbA1c levels, suggesting better blood sugar control, but slightly elevated ApoB, a known cardiovascular risk factor.

The findings underscore the importance of monitoring waist-to-height ratio early in life as a potential predictor of future heart and metabolic disease, and highlight the need for early preventive interventions in at-risk children.

“Our findings highlight that an elevated waist-to-height ratio at age 10 is a key clinical indicator of cardiometabolic risk in children. This reinforces the importance of monitoring central obesity in routine care, not only tracking weight, but specifically measures of central obesity as part of standard assessments. As clinical focus shifts from weight alone to identifying children with early signs of metabolic risk, waist-to-height ratio offers a simple and effective tool for detecting central obesity with cardiometabolic relevance. Identifying children with elevated ratios can help clinicians target those at greater risk of metabolic dysfunction, supporting more personalised interventions and early prevention of long-term complication.” said lead author Dr David Horner from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Reference: Derived from Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC2010)

Fatty Liver Disease Triples Risk of Preterm Delivery: Study Finds

Pregnant women with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) have an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and the risk increase cannot be explained by obesity, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

Common risk factors for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease are metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity.

The disease has become increasingly common, including among women of reproductive age.

The study is based on Swedish registry data and includes a total of 240 births among women with MASLD and 1140 matched births of women from the general population.

Women with MASLD were more than three times more likely to give birth prematurely.

The risk did not increase with MASLD severity and the increase in risk persisted even when compared to overweight or obese women without known MASLD.

Women with MASLD also had a 63 per cent higher risk of caesarean section than the control group.

However, this seems to be explained by high BMI as no increase in risk was seen compared to overweight or obese women without fatty liver disease.

"This suggests that the association is not only due to a high BMI and that the liver disease itself can have negative effects," explains lead author Carole A. Marxer, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet.

"It is important that pregnant women with MASLD are closely monitored during pregnancy to reduce the risk of complications. Consideration should also be given to adding specific recommendations for pregnant women to the clinical guidelines for MASLD."

Reference: https://news.ki.se/fatty-liver-in-pregnancy-may-increase-risk-of-preterm-birth

Study Reveals Junk Food Ads Drive Higher Calorie Intake in Children

Exposure to junk food advertising significantly increases calorie consumption among children and adolescents, regardless of the media format or ad content, according to a new randomised crossover trial presented at the 2025 European Congress on Obesity. The study, led by researchers from the University of Liverpool, found that even five minutes of exposure to advertisements for high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods caused children to consume an average of 130 extra kilocalories in a single day—the equivalent of two slices of bread.

The trial involved 240 children aged 7–15 from schools across Merseyside, UK. On separate occasions, participants were shown five minutes of HFSS food advertisements and non-food advertisements across four media formats: audiovisual (e.g., TV), visual (e.g., social media), audio (e.g., podcasts), and static (e.g., billboards). The ads included both product-based and brand-only formats. Following the exposure, researchers measured the children's ad libitum snack and lunch intake, body mass index (BMI), and socioeconomic status using postcode data.

Children exposed to HFSS ads consumed significantly more food than those exposed to non-food ads—an average of 58.4 extra kilocalories from snacks and 72.5 from lunch. Remarkably, the study found that the type of media and the ad content (brand-only versus product-based) did not moderate the effect. "Our findings offer crucial novel information on the extent, nature, and impact of unhealthy food marketing via different types of media on young people's eating behaviour," said lead author Professor Emma Boyland from the University of Liverpool in the UK. "Even short exposure to marketing of foods high in fat, salt, and sugar can drive excess calorie consumption and potentially weight gain, particularly in young people who are more susceptible to advertising and whose eating patterns influence their lifelong health."

The researchers also observed that children with higher BMI consumed even more calories after viewing HFSS ads.

Reference: European Association for the Study of Obesity