Learn to know your body

Pregnant Women's Diets Can Trigger Child Obesity

A recent study warns that overweight mothers could unwillingly predispose their unborn children to obesity

By Monica Gaza, Life & Style Editor

29th of May 2008, 08:21 GMT

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Pregnant mothers should watch their weight in order to prevent their children from becoming obese later in life

It's not a secret anymore: modern society is confronted with an epidemics of child obesity and researchers are working round the clock to find ways to deal with the current situation - ways that do not involve double mastectomies in teenage boys or gastric bypass surgery on severely obese teenage girls.

One of the most recent theories about the three-decade rise of childhood obesity is that genetics may also play an important part in its development, alongside children's lifestyle habits as such. The math, scientists say, is simple: overweight moms tend to have bigger newborn babies who run a major risk of developing obesity in their childhood and teenage years.

The theory is that if the mother is overweight when she becomes pregnant, a specific environment is created within her uterus which predisposes her child to put on fat faster than children who develop inside the uterus of mothers whose weight is pretty much within the normal range for their age, height and so on. Tests undertaken by researchers at the USDA-Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center have shown that this theory is perfectly valid in rats, and the data from the tests is currently analyzed in order to see how they can be used to best deal with the problem in humans.

Of course, things are not so simple - but there is a high probability that our weight and its future fluctuations be programmed up to a point by our mothers' weight and diets during pregnancy. It's very important for this mechanism to be understood, as women could then have a better chance to consider their pregnancy diets and prevent unwillingly predisposing their unborn children to putting on fat more quickly. Also, it's best to spot and address the problem head on, as once children are older, obesity is infinitely more difficult to tackle. Stay tuned for more news on this topic.

TAGS:

obesity | childhood | overweight mothers | research | predisposition

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