In a new research it was revealed that a virus which causes respiratory infection in people has been associated with obesity in children. In earlier studies done over animal has incriminated ordinary virus in weight gain, but proof has been doubtful.
The newest study in Pediatrics found that obese children were more prone to specific virus than those who were not over weight. In a lab study when mice were injected with similar virus they had shown significant weight gain. In earlier study a connection between the AD36 virus and obesity in adults has found.
In the study survey by the research team from the University of California, analyzed more than one hundred children aged eight to eighteen. Among all the participants half of the children were considered obese on the basis of their BMI (Body Mass Index).
In the group of obese children those who were found to have proof of AD36 infection virus weighed an average of thirty-five lbs more than those obese children who were AD36 negative, revealed the results of the survey. But how AD36 virus infects people and why it affects children in a different way is still not known.
A lot of people think that obesity is one’s own error or it is genetic. But this work will help to indicate that body weight is more intricate than is made out to be, explained lead researcher Jeffrey Schwimmer, professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California School of medicine.
He added that it is time to move away from passing on responsibility in favor of developing a level of understanding that will better support efforts at both deterrence and treatment. The data add weight to the concept that an infection can be a cause or contributor to obesity.