h it is widely believed that obesity is inherited to some extent, the study is one of the first to directly measure the risks, according to a team of five researchers led by Dr. Robert C. Whitaker of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Using height and weight data from the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, the Whitaker team found that children younger than 3 who are overweight are unlikely to grow up to be obese if neither parent is obese. But in later years the extra pounds in childhood tend to stay on in adulthood, and having obese parents increases the risk as well. Among the findings of the study:

Overweight children aged 3 to 5 are four times more likely to be obese when they hit their 20s than kids who are not overweight.

The risks increase with age. They are 10 times higher for overweight 6- to 9-year-olds, 28 times higher for 10- to 14-year-olds and 20 times higher for fat 15- to 17-year-olds.

The child of an obese mother is about three times more likely to be severely overweight than if the mother is not obese. The risk if the father is obese is a little bit less.

Whitaker and his colleagues said obese children age 3 to 9 who have obese parents "may be ideal candidates for treatment because the parents still have the opportunity to influence their children`s activity and diet" in a way that might prevent the problem.