The research published in the International Journal of Obesity shows that inflammation is a crucial and dangerous step in the development of obesity.

Warwick Medical School researchers Professor F P Cappuccio and Dr M A Miller have studied a large group of people, belonging to 3 different ethnic groups, and have measured a variety of markers of inflammatory activation and related these to measures of obesity or fatness such as body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). The study clearly showed that the levels of sE-selectin, a marker of inflammation produced by artery vessel walls, are strongly associated with measures of obesity, and in particular with the amount of fat around the waist. The research found that every 2% increase in sE-selectin led to the increase of 1 unit in Body Mass Index and 0.01 units in Waist - Hip Ratios.

This inflammation can directly trigger thrombosis, heart disease, strokes and diabetes.

There have been suggestions from earlier studies of small patient groups that inflammation had this importance but this is the first ever study to find these results across an unselected population of healthy subjects which covered both sexes and three ethnic groups (White, South Asian and people of African origin)

Dr Miller and Professor Cappuccio said:

"This study highlights the importance of the activation of the endothelium, the inner layer of the artery vessel wall, in the metabolic processes leading to obesity and cardiovascular disease". "This observation opens opportunities to develop new treatments that deal directly with inflammation either through diet or drugs".

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At the same time, a baby of normal size at birth, but who is given too much formula milk, which the mother will perceive as a good thing - i.e. that the baby is growing fast - in clinical terms it may potentially be growing too fast.

That baby may be at more risk of later disease because when you grow too rapidly one of the adaptations is you lay down too much fat. Once you have too much fat in early life that can stay with you throughout your life: you may become obese earlier with all the complications that go with that.

EARNEST is a Europe-wide project bringing together scientists from 38 research institutions across 16 countries in the fields of genetics, molecular biology, epidemiology, public health and consumer behaviour.

Professor Berthold Koletzko, of the University of Munich, is co-ordinating the six research initiatives that make up the EARNEST project.

Professor Koletzko said: Major differences in risk factors for significant health problems - such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, bone health, immune function, cognitive development and behaviour - have already been observed in children who experienced different diets in the first few months of life, or whose mothers were given different supplements during pregnancy.

These studies have not been running long enough to know whether the differences seen in childhood persist into adult life. If they do, the impact on the health of future generations is enormous.

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