Obesity during childhood and/or adolescence is an important risk factor for multiple sclerosis, according to a new study.
- Obese children are more likely to suffer from MS than others.
- This risk would be 2.3 times higher, according to a new study.
- Worldwide, more than 160 million children and adolescents are obese.
Children and adolescents suffering from obesity are at greater risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study to be presented at the European Congress on Obesitywhich will take place from May 12 to 15 in Venice, Italy.
2.3 times more likely to develop MS
To achieve this result, the researchers studied data from 21,600 obese children, who began treatment for obesity at the average age of 11, and more than 100,000 non-obese children. All were followed for an average of 5.6 years.
Results: 0.13% of children who were obese developed MS, compared to 0.06% of those who were not obese. Thus, the researchers determined that the incidence rate of MS was 19.3 per 100,000 in the group of obese children, compared to 8.3 among the others.
Once the data were adjusted, notably taking into account genetic factors, the scientists concluded that the risk of developing MS was more than 2.3 times higher in obese children than in others.
“Several studies show that MS has increased over several decades and that obesity is one of the main factors in this increase, explain the authors in a communicated. We can confirm this theory.”
8% of children are obese worldwide
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), while only 2% of children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 were obese in 1990 (31 million young people), in 2022, 8% of them were obese (160 million young people).
In the two groups of the study, the average age of MS diagnosis was almost the same, i.e. 23.4 years for obese children and 22.8 years for the others.
In France, 120,000 people are affected by MS, according to the Ministry of Health. It is a neurological disease whose symptoms vary from one patient to another: motor, cognitive, sensory, visual disorders, etc. Generally, this disease is diagnosed between the ages of 25 and 35. Currently, there is no treatment to cure it.
