Scientists have found that a simple blood test, which can read DNA, could be used to predict obesity levels in children. Researchers used the test to assess the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene - a gene that regulates fat storage in the body. Epigenetic switches take place through a chemical change called DNA methylation, which controls how genes work and is set during early life. The test, when carried out on children at five years old, differentiates between children with a high body fat and those with a low body fat when they were older. Scientists have found that a simple blood test, which can read DNA, could be used to predict obesity levels in children. Researchers at the Universities of Southampton, Exeter and Plymouth used the test to assess the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene -- a gene that regulates fat storage in the body.

Epigenetic switches take place through a chemical change called DNA methylation, which controls how genes work and is set during early life.The Southampton team found that the test, when carried out on children at five years old, differentiates between children with a high body fat and those with a low body fat when they were older. Results showed that a rise in DNA methylation levels of 10 per cent at five years was associated with up to 12 per cent more body fat at 14 years. Results were independent of the child's gender, their amount of physical activity and their timing of puberty. Dr Graham Burdge, of the University of Southampton who led the study with colleague Dr Karen Lillycrop, comments: "It can be difficult to predict when children are very young, which children will put on weight or become obese.. It is important to know which children are at risk because help, such as suggestions about their diet, can be offered early and before they start to gain weight