Mar 20, 2014 08:34 PM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

People who were abused or neglected as a child are more likely to develop obesity, diabetes or other metabolic disorders in adulthood, according to a recent study.

Researchers found that child abuse or neglect could impair weight-regulating hormones, according to a press release. The study was published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

"This study helps illuminate why people who have dealt with childhood adversity face a higher risk of developing excess belly fat and related health conditions," study author Christos S. Mantzoros of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the VA Boston Healthcare System, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers examined levels of weight-regulating hormones - leptin, adiponectin and irisin - in the blood of 95 adults, ages 35 to 65, who endured physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect as children.

Using questionnaires and interviews, each study participant was assigned a score based on the severity of the abuse or neglect experienced during childhood. Researchers divided the participants into three groups and compared hormone levels in people with the highest adversity scores to the other two-thirds of the participants.

Researchers found dysregulation of these hormones in people who had been abused or neglected as children. Participants with the highest adversity scores tended to have higher levels of leptin, irisin and the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein in their blood. All of these markers are linked to obesity. They also had lower levels of adiponectin, another risk factor for obesity.

"The data suggest that childhood adversity places stress on the endocrine system, leading to impairment of important hormones that can contribute to abdominal obesity well into adulthood," Mantzoros said.

"What we are seeing is a direct correlation between childhood adversity and hormone impairment, over and above the impact abuse or neglect may have on lifestyle factors such as diet and education," Mantzoros said.

She added that understanding "these mechanisms" could help health care providers develop new and interventions to address this population's elevated risk of abdominal obesity and cardiometabolic risk for people like this later in life.

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