Biological samples (blood and cheek-swabs) will be taken from children and parents for obesity and taste gene testing. Results: The first stage of the follow-up will cover early childhood development from the prenatal period until the age of 3 years. The ongoing analysis will study how mothers weight gain during pregnancy affects child's weight and whether the environmental and genetic influences in development of obesity can be separated. The effect of genetic variation in bitter taste

more »

... on child feeding, eating patterns and weight gain will also be examined. Conclusions: The research aims not only at gaining information about the correlations between different factors affecting childhood obesity, but also at producing results having more practical applications for use of childhood obesity prevention in children and families.