Chronic ear infections make kids fatter
March 22nd, 2011 - 10:29 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattSeoul, Mar 22 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Korean scientists have reported that children suffering from ear infections weigh heavier than their healthy pals. The researchers also found that children with ear infections have less active taste buds compared with their peers without ear infection.
Scientists do not as yet fully understand the relationship. Some hypothesis suggests that people with ear infection have damaged nerves conducting taste signals which makes them eat more. It is possible that it is the reason why children with ear infection tend to be much heavier than their healthy peers.
The research was conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Il Ho Shin of Kyung Hee University in Seoul. 84 kids aged between 3 and 7 were recruited for the test. Half of the kids had ear infection while the other half were healthy. The scientists then compared the sense of taste in the two groups along with their body mass index (BMI).
The BMI of those with ear infection were noticeably higher than those without ear infection. The average BMI of those with ear infection was 20.6 while that of those without ear infection was 17.7. The sense of taste was also better in those without ear infection than in those with ear infection.
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Tags: body mass index, body mass index bmi, chronic ear infections, ear infection, hypothesis, korean scientists, kyung hee university, nerves, pals, peers, relationship, sense of taste, signals, taste buds, university in seoul