Discover, September 21, 2010.
A study of children has discovered a correlation between obesity and prior infection with a cold virus, called Adenovirus 36. While the link is fairly weak, the tantalizing research suggests a new front on the war on obesity.
The study participants included 124 children between the ages of 8 and 18. Of the 67 obese children involved in the study, 15 had signs of previous infection with the AD36 virus, in comparison with only 4 of the 57 non-obese children. The study was published in the online edition of Pediatrics.
The children who had been previously exposed to the virus (which was indicated by the antibodies to the virus present in their blood) were on average 50 pounds heavier than the non-exposed children. And even within the obese group, those that had been previously exposed to AD36 were an average of 35 pounds heavier. Read More >