Pregnancy dieting ups obesity risk in babies

0

 The babies whose mothers go on a diet around conception time and in early pregnancy may be at a higher risk of obesity and diabetes later in life.

According to the findings appeared in the FASEB Journal, twins, and babies of mothers who diet around the time of conception and in early pregnancy, may have an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes throughout their lives. 

“This study may provide a new understanding of why twins can develop diabetes,” said lead author Anne White of the University of Manchester, UK. 

“It also suggests that dieting around the time a baby is conceived may increase the chance of the child becoming obese later in life.” 

Scientists who conducted their study on sheep evaluated the effects of nutrition change around the time of conception and early pregnancy on the animals’ brain. 

White and colleagues also found that changes in female sheep’s’ diet affect the lambs’ genes that control food intake and glucose levels. 

The impact may alter the way that the offspring’s genes behave in later life and raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

“This study shows that expecting mothers have to walk a really fine line when it comes to diet and nutrition,” said FASEB Journal Editor-in-chief Dr. Gerald Weissmann. 

“It also shows that epigenetics is the ‘new genetics’: both our DNA and the histones in which it is wrapped are susceptible to binge eating and dieting-we are what our mothers ate,” he added. 

SJM/TE 

Send your news stories to [email protected] Follow News Ghana on Google News

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here