We have more and more information about the influence of nutrition in pregnancy on the health of the baby throughout his life. A new study has just revealed that the pregnant woman's diet can alter the baby's DNA predisposing it to an increased risk of developing obesity problems several years later.
The international study conducted by the University of Southampton is the first to demonstrate that the mother's diet during pregnancy can alter the baby's DNA through a process called epigenetic change, which can cause the child to develop weight problems, regardless of the mother's weight upon becoming pregnant and the child's weight at birth.
In this same sense, we knew a previous study based on an experiment with rats, which indicated that the mother's preference for foods high in fat causes changes in the baby's brain that stimulate appetite, raising the risk of obesity in First years of life.
It is a breakthrough in research on the causes of childhood obesity, since it is the only one that points to a mother's behavior that influences fetal development and not simply to the genetic combination and lifestyle from birth .
To reach this conclusion, the researchers measured epigenetic changes in about 300 children at birth and showed that they predicted the obesity that the child would reach at six or nine years of age. Epigenetic changes are those that alter the function of DNA without modifying its inherited sequence from the mother and father, can also influence how a person responds to lifestyle factors, such as diet or exercise.
Two interesting conclusions can be drawn from the study. On the one hand, it highlights the enormous importance of healthy nutrition in pregnancy, while on the other, it points to the childhood obesity prevention It could start even before the birth occurs. The measures should be aimed at improving the mother's nutrition during pregnancy to reduce the risk of suffering from it in the future.
