London - Pregnant women who eat too much – or too little – risk having a fat child, scientists have warned.
Babies of women who do not gain enough weight are as likely to be obese as those whose mothers gain too much, and the risk is higher for women who are a normal weight at the start of their pregnancy, they said.
The US researchers studied more than 4 000 women and their children and compared mothers’ weight gain to guidelines issued by the American government.
They found 20.4 percent of babies whose mothers put on too much weight in pregnancy were overweight or obese between the ages of two and five. Similarly, 19.5 percent of babies born to women who did not gain enough weight were too fat.
However, only 14.5 percent of children whose mothers stuck to the guidelines were overweight at this stage the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports. The findings suggest that conditions in the womb can programme a child’s metabolism for years to come, affecting their appetite and fat storage. - Daily Mail