| Having a wife that works with life skill students I | | | | had higher levels of leptin, a hormone linked to |
| know there are all type of problems that arise with | | | | obesity, than their unaffected siblings. "The normal |
| special needs students. Its sad because with students | | | | role of leptin is to suppress appetite and regulate |
| and or adults who have special needs will struggle | | | | body weight," explained senior author Dr Nicolas |
| with those needs their entire life, and now obesity | | | | Stettler in the Jouranl of Paediatrics. "In general, |
| seems to be just one more issue. I'm not sure there | | | | obese people have higher levels of leptin, which |
| is an answer to this problem, but it seems that those | | | | suggests that they have some leptin resistance - |
| who have Down's Syndrome posse obesity Risk. | | | | their bodies do not respond to the hormone properly. |
| If your not sure what Downs Syndrome is, let me | | | | Because Down's Syndrome is a chromosome |
| give you a working definition. It is a congenital | | | | disorder, children with Down's Syndrome may have a |
| disorder, caused by the presence of an extra 21st | | | | genetic predisposition to more severe leptin |
| chromosome, in which the affected person has mild | | | | resistance." |
| to moderate mental retardation, short stature, and a | | | | Co-author Dr Sheela N Magge added: "Although the |
| flattened facial profile. Also called trisomy | | | | study had an advantage in including siblings as a |
| New research has shown that people who suffer | | | | control group, because this decreases the influence |
| from Down's Syndrome are more likely to become | | | | of different environments on children with or without |
| obese than those who do not have the condition. | | | | Down's Syndrome, the sample size was limited, so |
| Using families which had both children who had | | | | larger studies are necessary. However, our findings |
| Down's Syndrome and brothers or sisters who did | | | | may point to a useful approach to understanding why |
| not, scientists were able to ensure that eating | | | | obesity often occurs in Down's Syndrome." |
| patterns offered by parents were very similar and | | | | Around 60,000 people in the UK have Down's |
| that lifestyle choices and habits accrued as adults | | | | Syndrome and various charities have produced |
| would not interfere with the study. | | | | information for people with learning difficulties to |
| Monitoring 35 children with Down's Syndrome and 33 | | | | advise them about making healthy eating choices |
| of their siblings who were free of the condition, | | | | which could help until more research is carried out. |
| researchers from The Children's Hospital of | | | | I think as we advance in the fight against obesity |
| Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School | | | | and realize the effects it has, perhaps in the future |
| of Medicine found that the Down's children had | | | | this could be one less thing that people with special |
| significantly higher body mass index and a higher | | | | needs will have to battle. Because it seems in the |
| percentage of body fat. | | | | earlier stages that people with Down's Syndrome |
| It was discovered that Down's Syndrome children | | | | poses obesity risk. |