Hurting Ear in Childhood, Large Rear in Adulthood?

Have you ever felt like you used to get way more ear infections in your younger years? Well, it’s true; you did get more when you were younger. But it’s not just luck that that’s the case.

One of the reasons for the frequency with which ear infections infect young ones is because kids tend to be around other young kids whose immune systems aren’t as developed, thus more susceptible to diseases and the symptoms that go along with it. The other reason is that kids’ Eustachian tube – the thing that connects the inner ear to the back of the throat – is shorter in length and more horizontal in position, thus bacteria is more capable of infecting the ear drum before it can be drained out by internal fluids.

This little science lesson is all nice and good and I’m sure endlessly fascinating, but the fact that kids are more susceptible to ear infections – some more than others – puts them at an increased risk of obesity in their later years.

Normally, I’m not one to pin the prevalence of obesity on excuses. The prevalence of obesity in America today is primarily due to unhealthy food choices, overeating, sedentary lifestyles and a lack of motivation to make the necessary changes. But in this case, the science linking ear infections to obesity seems at the very least logical.

When ear infections become commonplace in a child’s early years, oftentimes damage is done to something called the chorda tympani nerve. This nerve stretches from the taste buds in the tongue to the brain, the eardrum being the middle piece that connects the two. The chorda tympani nerve helps the brain differentiate between tastes like the saltiness of a potato chip or the sweetness of a lollipop. But when the chorda tympani nerve is damaged after repeated ear infections, many sweet and salty flavors don’t transmit, particularly the ones that aren’t particularly intense in flavor. As a result, these people trend toward foods that are highly distinguished in flavor and texture, like butter, salty snacks, extra creamy ice cream – in short, the foods that aren’t exactly paragons of nutrition.

Researchers have known about this for some time, so University of Florida researchers weren’t exactly bowled over when they found a link between someone’s tendency to get ear infections while younger and their tendency to pile on the pounds in their later years. They were surprised by just how much of link there was, however. The researchers’ data indicates that someone who combated frequent ear infections while young is 70 percent more likely to combat obesity later in life when compared to those that had infrequent ear infections.

“We found that without question those with otitis media [the medical term for ear infections] weighed more – and in many cases a great deal more – than those without,” said Linda Bartoshuk, a scientist and lead researcher in the study from the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute Center.

Now, a couple of things need to be mentioned here. Firstly, the results of this study were preliminary, which explains why they have yet to be published in any medical journal. That fact might lead some to question the study’s veracity. But the fact that the data was acquired from 6,500 voluntarily submitted questionnaires about people’s eating habits and their history of ear infections – not to mention previous studies that had similar findings – suggests it will be published in the not-too-distant future.

Second, as a doctor who conducted a similar study on the topic said regarding this most recent finding, this doesn’t mean that a young person’s frequent ear infections guarantees his or her enlistment in the battle with the bulge in later in life. Of course not. But suppose that it did. The extent to which he or she struggles with weight would depend on the attitude he or she develops toward maintaining a healthy lifestyle. That attitude isn’t inborn. It develops over time, depending on the examples set by their peers, what media messages they surround themselves with and – you guessed it – the importance parents put on health as they mature.