Scientists in South Korea revealed that there is a probable connection between body fat in children and particular kind of ear infection. But some specialists in the US doubt the research.

A study co-author Dr. Seung Geun Yeo, a researcher at Kyung Hee University in Seoul stated that they have to pay attention to lessen the obesity to children.

Ear infections remain very common in children; about 8 to 9 of every 10 kids are affected with such problem. The middle ear is the one being blamed by doctors because it usually does not fully drain fluids when it is developing.

Normally, doctors prescribed antibiotic though there is worry that the germs are developing immunity to the children.

In a new study, researchers examined two groups of kids which ages from 2 to 7. The 155 children had tubes set in the ears in order to help the kids drain the fluid and will recover from the ear infection. The 118 children were hospitalized for another reason.

The children were found to be suffering from a form of ear infection which known as otitis media with effusion. Ear ache and fever, some of ear infections' symptoms, aren't present when this condition occurs.

Based on their body mass index (BMI), a ratio of weight to height, the kids who were treated for ear infections were fatter than the other children. It showed that extra fat boosts the risk of ear infections; the total cholesterol was also higher.

Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery were the study was published in the April issue.

Two American specialists of ear, nose and throat stated that they weren't impressed with the study that the South Korean made.

Dr. Jack Paradise, professor of pediatrics and otolaryngology at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine stated that one of the obvious problems was that the researchers did not compare similar groups of kids to each other. He also added that the study didn't look at the socioeconomic levels of the children. He said that it is hard to generalize medical trends by just looking at the hospital records, since there are a lot of factors that can affect kids whether they have tubes in their ears.

Dr. David Darrow, of Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk, Va stated that the authors never gave a theory on how and why obesity can be connected to ear infections. The study lacks physiological explanation, he added.

Paradise said that there is no facts regarding the connection of obesity and ear infections, and it is not possible.

It's probable that childhood obesity may be connected with ear infections, Dr. Jordan S. Josephson, an otolaryngologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and author of Sinus Relief Now stated.

He stated that obesity can cause people to have huge appearance so their internal spaces become crowded by bulk. That is why their Eustachian tubes that drain their ears are narrowed, and which lead to otitis media with effusion.