The weight gained during the pregnancy would not affect the health of children, according to the results of a study published in the medial journal Heart. In case of maternal obesity, children should adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland conducted a study to establish the long-term effects of a mother’s weight gain during pregnancy on her children. They used medical data from a major health survey conducted in the 1950s. They were able to follow children whose mothers had seen their weight gain noted during pregnancy and study the impact of lifestyle on health of children as adults.
Many studies confirm that diet during pregnancy plays a role in the health of children. American researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in the United States revealed that the western diet promotes obesity and those from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah (USA) that nutrition during pregnancy is important for the baby’s heart.
Children’s health is not linked to weight gained during pregnancy
But the results of the study showed that a mother’s weight gain is not linked to an increased risk of premature death or heart problems in her children. In contrast extreme weight gain is associated with an increased risk of heart attack in children as adults.
The researchers recalled that in this case, children could reduce this risk by adopting good health habits and a lifestyle in adulthood, with a healthy diet and the practice of physical activity.
“This study provides a very important public health message: while it is impossible to influence your mother’s weight gain while she is carrying you, it is however possible, by living a healthy life, to reduce effects of your mother’s extreme weight gain on your risk of cardiac disease or premature death,” says Sohinee Bhattacharya, lead author of the study.
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