Obesity ‘Can Be Passed On’
Posted by on Aug 14, 2009 in Keeping fit may be more than just an individual exercise for expectant mothers, in light of new weight advice from the University at Buffalo.
Researchers at the educational facility claim that weight information can be passed to unborn babies, making them more likely to become obese once they are born.
Despite the classic excuse that pregnant women are "eating for two", they could in fact be programming their children for adult-onset obesity by overindulging.
The investigating team discovered evidence that weight information is passed from the mother into the fetus's hypothalamus, the area of the brain which helps to determine the body's rate of metabolism.
Senior author Dr Mulchand Patel notes that it was previously unknown how early such programming took place, but that the findings now show that the propensity for obesity may be raised when a baby is still in the womb.
Other effects linked with maternal obesity include heightened levels of insulin and leptin.
A high level of insulin in the early stages of life could cause an individual to become resistant to its effects, the researchers point out.
This could in turn raise the likelihood of that person becoming diabetic later in life.
In weight advice for adults, Monell Chemical Senses Centre recently noted that changes in the levels of triglyceride in the blood after a high-fat meal can offer an indication of an individual's risk of becoming obese.
