Future parents can now cheer up and stop worrying about their kids getting obese; they’ll stay slim no matter how much of junk food you feed them, sounds exciting or worrying?
In a bid to curb the growing obesity among children, researchers from the University of Buckingham have come up with a preventive solution of adding a hormone to formula milk to curb future over-eating in babies!
It’s a well known fact that breast fed babies are at a lower risk of obesity than babies growing on formula milk. The researchers carried out a study on pregnant rats by giving leptin, a hormone produced in the brain and it was found that the off-springs of these rats remained slim despite being on a calorie-rich diet while the off-springs of untreated rats gained weight and developed diabetes.
Leptin is a protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including the regulation of appetite and metabolism. The researchers say that leptin found in breast milk is absent in formula milk and they are only adding the missing ingredient in formula milk; according to them, formula milk and baby food enriched with leptin will have the same effect on babies i.e curbing hunger and thereby preventing babies from consuming more food.
But the question is since it has not been tried on humans as yet, how many parents would risk giving in their new born babies for trials? If manufacturers marketed such food by saying giving babies leptin-enriched formula food would keep babies slim forever, more moms are likely to give up breast feeding and switch to formula milk; after all it’s an easy solution to combat the obesity problem.
While health professionals are trying hard to promote breast feeding, leptin enriched formula milk if approved will have a negative effect on the minds of new moms. Instead of promoting and encouraging such studies, the government should find ways of educating consumers about the benefits of exercise and nutritional good to combat obesity.
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