Children with Down Syndrome More Likely to Become Obese

By Rebecca Marli, Project Weight Loss staff writer
October 29, 2007

Children with Down syndrome have a higher risk to suffer from obesity compared to their siblings due to the leptin hormone, according to researchers at the Children`s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The study involved thirty-five normal-weight children with Down syndrome with ages between four and ten years old, and thirty-three of their siblings. The findings showed that the participants with Down syndrome had high levels of leptin, high percentages of fat, and higher body mass index (BMI) compared to their siblings.

The leptin hormone regulates body weight and suppresses appetite, according to senior author Nicolas Stettler. Obese or overweight people may have developed resistance to the leptin hormone since they have large amounts of leptin and their bodies don`t respond to it properly, said Dr. Stettler, senior author of the study. Down syndrome may represent a genetic predisposition to severe leptin resistance.

Further research is needed in order to establish the exact reasons why people who suffer from Down syndrome are more likely to become obese, according to Dr. Sheela Magge, lead author of the study. However, the study`s results are an useful approach to the obesity problem that usually occurs for people who suffer from this chromosome disorder, she concluded.

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