Children of obese parents and grandparents suffer the risk of developing obesity, says a new study. Philippe Froguel from Institut Pasteur in Lille, France, and colleagues from Imperial College, London, Britain, looked at the genes of 1,225 children aged 5 to 11 who were clinically obese, and 1,205 normal weight children.

When they looked at the children’s parents and grandparents, they found a similar risk for obesity and discovered that a hereditary mutation in gene ENPP1 contributes to obesity in them and the early onset of type II diabetes, both of which carry severe health risks, reports newscientist.com.

Although the gene has a role in obesity and diabetes, Froguel was keen to point out the all-important environmental factors implicated in these disorders.

In the three generations of families studied with the faulty gene, the researchers saw obesity and occasionally diabetes in the young children that were only just starting to manifest in their parents and grandparents.

"The 20-year difference in expression of the gene abnormality shows the devastating consequences of recent environmental factors, such as eating high-glycaemic foods and a lack of exercise," Froguel says.

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