Wed, Jul-05-06, 05:02
|
 |
Senior Member
Posts: 912
|
|
Plan: paleoish low carb
Stats: 238/210/135
BF:yes
Progress: 27%
Location: UK
|
|
Mums' diet may be reason for child obesity
Quote:
BABIES may be "programmed" to become fat while in the womb because of Welsh mothers' unhealthy diets, research has suggested.
Although Wales has the lowest average birth weight in the UK, according to new research, these babies are some of the heaviest in the UK by the time they are nine months old.
Scientists believe babies' genes are being "hard wired" before they are born, making them more likely to be overweight or obese when they grow up.
Midwives yesterday said that they give pregnant women a lot of advice about diet and they are also trying to persuade mothers-to-be to stop smoking - one of the causes of low birth weights.
A study of the growth of 12,900 children, by experts at Kings College London and University College London, found that the Welsh babies weighed an average of 7.5lb - compared to 7.7lb in Scotland and 7.5lb in England and Northern Ireland.
But by the time they were nine months old, they weighed an average of 19.8lb - only Scottish babies weighed more at 20lb.
The researchers said, in the International Journal of Obesity, that these differences could not be explained by such factors as bottle-feeding, social class or the children's parents' height and weight. Instead they suggested that babies may be "programmed" to be fat while in the womb because of their mothers' poor diet.
Research by Swansea University has found that by the time they are five, 8% of girls and 5% of boys are obese - double the number 16 years ago.
Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said, "There is now research to suggest that at every stage in life there are factors which influence obesity.
"At the moment every stage of the cycle is wrong and needs looking at.
"Until that happens, it is like a vicious circle where the mother is imprinting her baby with a faulty metabolism which is passed on in the genes and just keeps on being passed on."
Karen Jewell, a consultant midwife in public health, who is based in Cardiff, said, "Midwives talk to women about diet and the importance of healthy eating at their first meeting.
"We have stopped weighing women, but we do tell them that they will put on a certain amount of weight but that they should eat a healthy diet for the rest of their pregnancy, and hopefully, if they are breastfeeding, they will get rid of any weight gain."
|
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...-name_page.html
see also http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=966502006 |
Linear Mode
