Childhood obesity tied to increased risk of type 1 diabetes, study suggests

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2022-05-10T10:30:54+05:30 | Updated On 10 May 2022 10:43 AM IST

UK: A recent study in the journal Nature Communications has found that childhood body size has a causal influence on the type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk. Its influence on other immune-associated diseases is likely due to the long-term effect of remaining overweight for many years over the life course.

"We present evidence indicating that body size in childhood increases the T1D risk based on the age-at-diagnosis of the participants analyzed in this study (mean age = 16.57 years)," the authors wrote in their study. "Our findings support results from previous observational studies suggesting that the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is a causal factor in the rising numbers of T1D diagnoses.

The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has been postulated as the reason for the increasing rate of individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Tom G. Richardson, Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues used Mendelian randomization (MR) to provide evidence that childhood body size has an effect on T1D risk (OR = 2.05 per change in body size category), which remains after accounting for body size at birth and during adulthood using multivariable MR (OR = 2.32).

Using data from a large-scale T1D meta-analysis based on n = 15,573 cases and n = 158,408 controls (OR = 1.94), the researchers validate the direct effect of childhood body size. Also, they provided evidence that childhood body size influences the risk of eczema, asthma, and hypothyroidism. Although multivariable MR suggested that in later life these effects are mediated by body size.

"Our findings emphasize the importance of implementing preventative policies to lower the prevalence of childhood obesity and its subsequent influence on the rising numbers of T1D cases," the authors write. "This will help ease health care burdens and also potentially improve the quality of life for individuals living with this lifelong disease."

Reference:

Richardson, T.G., Crouch, D.J.M., Power, G.M. et al. Childhood body size directly increases type 1 diabetes risk based on a lifecourse Mendelian randomization approach. Nat Commun 13, 2337 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29932-y

type 1 diabeteschildhood obesityNature Communications

Source : Nature Communications

Medha Baranwal

MSc. Biotechnology

Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751