Eating behavior of pregnant women may pass to babies

William Atkins
Thursday, 16 August 2007 00:11

Science - Health

English researchers found a possible link between the eating habits of mothers-to-be and future eating habits of their children.

Neil Stickland and Stephanie Bayol, both from the Royal Veterinary College in London, England, two of the researchers performing the study, found that during pregnancy, fetuses become accustomed to what their mothers are eating and, once born, have appetites for those types of foods.

For example, mothers who each junk food during pregnancy and breastfeeding produce children who are more apt to have desires for unhealthy types of foods.
 

In the study, which was written up in the British Journal of Nutrition, the researchers subjected three groups of pregnant rats with different diets, one full of junk foods such as highly sweetened foods and fatty doughnuts, a second only with nutritional pellets (rat chow), and a third with a combination of the first two groups of foods.

From the BBC News article “Craving for junk food ‘inherited’”, Stickland commented, “Future mothers should be aware that pregnancy and lactation are not the time to over-indulge on fatty and sugary treats on the assumption that they are ‘eating for two’.”

After giving birth, the baby rats fed on junk food put on weight faster, had more desire for unhealthy food, and ate larger amounts of food than the healthy-fed group. In fact, the unhealthy group of baby rats ate about twice as much unhealthy food as their healthy counterparts ate healthy food.

The researchers are attempting to learn more about how appetite and the brain are connected with regards to certain foods. Why, for instance, the brain of some animals needs larger and larger amounts of junk foods to satisfy certain cravings. They are also trying to learn more about the correct balance of foods for pregnant women.

Earlier studies have already shown that a particular diet early in life often predicts one’s diet later in life. These researchers are continuing their studies as to whether an unhealthy diet in the womb and as a baby could increase one’s risk for obesity, heart disease, and other health problems later in life.