Barchetta I, Bertoccini L, Sentinelli F, et al. - Researchers conducted this longitudinal retrospective study to assess plasma pro-neurotensin (NT) in relation to the presence of obesity in children and to test whether high pro-NT associates with the development of metabolic impairment later in life. The sample consisted of 151 overweight/obese children undergoing metabolic evaluations at the University of Cagliari, Italy. Pro-NT was also evaluated in 46 normal-weight, age-, sex-comparable normal-weight children, selected as a reference group. At the baseline, pro-NT was similar between overweight/obese and normal-weight children and correlated positively with age, triglycerides and inversely with HDL levels. Elevated levels of pro-NT in children are significantly linked to weight gain later in life and can represent a marker of susceptibility to metabolic impairment in presence of obesity.