One in ten cases of MS linked to obesity

A new study has warned that obese children are more likely to get multiple sclerosis (MS) and one in ten cases are linked to being overweight as a child.

Researchers at the Queen Mary University of London were aiming to estimate how many cases of MS were linked to smoking and obesity, two known environmental triggers of the condition.

They found that 10 per cent of the population risk could be attributed to smoking, but that this was likely to decrease as smoking rates decline. However, due to the fact that childhood obesity is rising, researchers say it could contribute up to 14 per cent of the overall risk of MS by 2035.