Obesity is the evil of the century. This chronic disease affects around 6.5 million people in France – and 15.6% of French women are affected by this health problem.
However, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California (in the United States), pregnant women including body mass index (BMI) is over 30 are more likely than others to give birth to a baby boy with behavioral problems.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied medical data collected between 1986 and 2012, involving more than 5,000 American women; 65% of them had a BMI deemed to be “ normal “(Between 18.5 and 25), 8% were” too thin “(BMI less than 18.5) and 10% suffered from obesity (BMI greater than 30), or even severe obesity (BMI greater than 35) . The scientists also followed the children of the participants between the ages of 4 and 14.
Behavioral disorders between 9 and 11 years old
Verdict? Researchers found that little boys whose mothers had suffered fromobesity during pregnancy had, on average, more behavioral problems than the others, especially between the ages of 9 and 11. Behavioral disorders were measured in particular via questionnaires sent to mothers.
On the other hand, this relationship seems to work only on little boys: little girls are not affected by maternal obesity. “We think that in utero, boys are perhaps more sensitive to stress and emotions felt by the mother than little girls, hence this difference, analyzes Juliana Deardorff, main author of this work, published in the journal specialized American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Future studies will need to determine whether these behavioral disorders experienced by young boys persist through adolescence and into adulthood. “
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