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Anti-Obesity Formula Milk To Include Hunger Suppressing Hormone |
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Written by Theresa Maher
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
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The growing problem of obesity across the world has convinced British scientists they need to stop the crisis from taking root. So they have hit on a plan to create fat-fighting formula milk that will protect babies from growing into obese adults. This infant formula is to include the hunger suppressing hormone leptin, which has concerned some scientists.
Researchers have expressed optimism the formula could fight the alarming trend of childhood obesity and diabetes that is plaguing UK society. In the last two decades, obesity and overweight rates among UK children have soared with a third of children in the age group 11-15 well on their way to being labeled obese.
It is estimated that four in five of those children will grow into obese adults. The economic costs of obesity epidemic are pegged at £7 billion a year. The World Health Organization has declared obesity as a global epidemic having major health implications in 1997. It estimated that some 2 billion people worldwide are obese or overweight.
Obesity brings with it health problems like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Rates of childhood obesity have spiraled the world over thanks to a shift in diet from a pre-dominantly home cooked one to junk food based one. The UK already has provisions banning junk food ads on television after a certain time frame.
Now researchers from the Buckingham University says using leptin to program brain cells to eat less may be the answer to the obesity dilemma. Leptin is a hormone that is naturally produced by adipose tissue. It is also present in breast milk. Its main action is to initiate satiety in individuals.
The research team led by Dr Mike Cawthorne of the University of Buckingham has already tried leptin successfully in pregnant rats. In the study, rats that were fed leptin remained slim even though they were allowed to eat fat foods. On the other hand the control group of rats gained excess weight.
The research is described in the journal Chemistry and Industry.
Earlier research into the effects of leptin on humans produced mixed results with people soon becoming resistant to the hunger suppressing effects of the hormone. Animal studies have indicated that using leptin early in life will prevent over-eating later on. Dr Cawthorne said as much, adding early use of leptin "hard-wires the body's energy balance".
"The supplemented milks are simply adding something back that was originally present - breast milk contains leptin and formula feeds don't," he opined.
However the notion of using a hormone in formula milk even though it is to prevent obesity has riled experts. They feel promotion of the "fat-fighting" milk would encourage mothers to abandon breastfeeding although it is recognized as the best food for infants.
Breastfeeding is also thought to be one reason why infants may not gain weight in future, while bottle-fed children do so later on. The explanation given by scientists is leptin induces brain cells to eat less very early in life.
The Food Standards Agency said any move to commercially launch leptin-laced formula milk would have to pass muster with it. "If you make a functional food using ingredients that are already on the market, then you wouldn't have to go through a safety assessment," a spokesman pointed out. "But if it includes new ingredients then you would, and it depends on the sort of ingredients."
Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of Weight Concern also questioned the principle behind including leptin in formula foods. "It is based on spurious evidence and going for a market of children is both exploiting the current situation and potentially harmful because we don't know the effect it will have," he added. "Products like this raise false hope and expectation."
It must be stressed the leptin experiment is still on the drawing board. Researchers are seeking permission for human trials, although it remains debatable if their theory works in reality. The best way to avoid obesity and overweight continues to be a balanced diet. Children must be taught how to eat properly and must be guided to increase physical activity to maintain a healthy life.
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