Obesity: Special formula milk for babies to include hormone that will suppress child's hunger and reduce risk of obesity
By Lucy Quinton
A formula milk that is set to encourage a child's brain to burn off more energy than it would otherwise - and reducing the likelihood of developing obesity - looks set to be on the cards, scientists have revealed.
The formula milk would be supplemented with leptin, which is meant to turn off the feeling of hunger in the brain of babies. Leptin is already present in breast milk and studies have shown breast-fed babies are less likely to become obese later on.
Babies fed with formula grow more quickly than breast-fed babies - who have a lower risk of obesity as adults.
According to researchers at the Clore Laboratory at the University of Buckingham, the treatment could stop the alarming epidemic of obesity and diabetes among children. The intention is that it would challenge the nation's growing weight crisis.
The scientists have already tested the theory on rats and they also remained free from type 2 diabetes, which affects more than a million people in Great Britain. The scientists believe that adding the hormone to formula milk could have the same effect on humans, which would allow people to remain permanently slim.
They believe that the introduction of the hormone is only effective in the young as tests in adults have shown adults are capable of resisting the suppressing effect.
Critics of the idea have suggested that using a hormone to programme a child's brain is "scary" and claimed scientists are attempting to cash in on the nations current fears about obesity particularly in children. Other critics have also suggested it could damage the development of the young brain.
Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, said: "This theory cannot be discounted but if anyone thinks that it will come to fruition in the next 10 years, they'll be lucky. There are further trials and legal and moral issues that need to be discussed. All ideas should be looked at seriously though and it's up to the scientists to come up with the magic answers. However, a quick fix, it certainly isn't."
Around one-third of British children, aged 11 to 15, are classified as being overweight, with rates of obesity soaring over the last 20 years. More than four in five of those children will remain obese in their adult lives and will cost the economy £7bn each year.
The nation's weight epidemic is a topical subject, with Jamie Oliver's campaign for healthier school dinners and high street department store, John Lewis, revealing its "normal"-sized 12 models in a bid to show women in a more "realistic" fashion.
