Pregnant mothers’ diet linked to child obesity
AFP
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 Full Article Here:-
An expectant mother’s diet during pregnancy can alter her baby’s DNA in the womb, increasing its risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in later life, an international study has found.
Researchers said the study provided the first scientific evidence linking pregnant women’s diet to childhood obesity, with major implications for public health.
“This a a major breakthrough because for the first time it gives us the potential to work out the optimal diet a mother should eat,” Professor Peter Gluckman from Auckland University’s Liggins Institute told AFP.
“That’s likely to vary slightly from mother to mother, but it could be a major tool in addressing the obesity epidemic.”
The study, conducted by scientists in Britain, New Zealand and Singapore, showed that what a mother ate during pregnancy could change the function of her child’s DNA through a process called epigenetic change.
Children with a high degree of epigenetic change were more likely to develop a metabolism that “lays down more fat” and become obese, researchers found.
