Obese Mother = Obese Children

According to a new research carried out on 3.000 children, a child's weight may be influenced by his mother even before he is actually born.

Researchers concluded that a child is far more likely to be overweight at 2 or 3 years old if his mother was overweight or obese before she became pregnant.

A child is also at greater risk of becoming overweight if he is born to a black or Hispanic mother, or to a mother who smoked during her pregnancy.

In addition, they warn there's a good chance that an overweight child will stay overweight for the rest of his or her life.

"Weight persists with time, so a child who is overweight by his/her second birthday is more likely to be overweight at a later age," Pamela Salsberry, the study's lead author, said.

"Prevention of childhood obesity needs to begin before a woman ever gets pregnant," she added.

It was discovered that if a woman was overweight before she became pregnant, her child was as much as three times more likely to be overweight by age 7 compared to a child whose mother was not overweight or obese.

It's a well-known fact that smoking during the pregnancy is extremely harmful for the fetus, but until this research, it has never been proved that smoking was one of the factors which led to later obesity in children.