A large European Union project is investigating the impact of obesity in women on their children. Scientists call for urgent prevention strategies.
As obesity gains traction around the world, its long-term consequences are starting to be felt. A vast European project was launched three years ago to assess the impact of obesity during pregnancy on child development. The work, funded by the European Commission, has just delivered their first results.
Heart attack, diabetes
One of the studies of this consortium, called Dorian (Developmental ORIgins of healthy and unhealthy AgeiNg: the role of maternal obesity), was carried out in Finland, at the University of Helsinki. It concerns more than 13,000 people followed from the 1930s to the present day.
It reveals that children whose mothers were obese in the last months of pregnancy have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or of having cardiac arrest. Other data suggests that a child’s weight and heart development are directly related to the weight a mother gained during her pregnancy – not just the weight she had before she became pregnant.
“The pregnancy period is fundamental, including in the last moments, insists Patricia Iozzo, doctor at the National Research Council in Italy, who heads the consortium. Intensive efforts should be made to monitor the lifestyle of pregnant women. We must optimize the metabolic profile of mothers before childbirth ”.
Poorly informed populations
The importance of a healthy diet during pregnancy was highlighted in a study from the University of Edinburgh. According to the researchers’ findings, the placenta of a mother who follows a diet high in fat and low in micronutrients fails to protect the fetus against the stress hormone cortisol. These deficiencies can reduce baby’s growth and increase your baby’s chances of having mood disorders as an adult.
Scientists in the consortium are calling on European states to produce recommendation guides on diet during pregnancy. They underline the urgency of putting in place prevention strategies and informing the populations about the long-term risks of obesity in women and their descendants. Nearly one in three humans suffers from obesity or overweight in the world, according to the World Health Organization. In France, obesity affects 15% of adults.
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