Children born of mothers who are obese are more prone to developing cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes according to a new Canadian study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers tested children born of obese mothers and then tested children born of the same mothers after they had lost weight through gastric bypass surgery.
When the mothers were obese there were changes in the methylation or expression of the babies’ genes which put them at greater risk. This is a process in which molecules attach to DNA and act like a dimmer switch turning attributes up or down.
Children born before their mothers had weight loss surgery had differences in 5,698 genes compared to children born after. These were genes involved in inflammation, vascular disease and the control of glucose metabolism as well as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
New technology allowed researchers to examine the molecules to see the differences. Further research will try to determine exactly why the differences occur. And the children will be studied when they are older to see if those who are more at risk do actually develop the conditions. If they adopt a healthy lifestyle they might not.
Mother’s obesity affects baby, study shows
“For sure…(this study)… is good evidence that the obesity of the mother does not necessarily have only an impact on the mother, but also on the next generation,” said an author of the study, Dr. Marie-Claude Vohl of Laval University in Quebec City.“So it’s important from a public health point of view because it’s an additional argument for the development of treatment and prevention programs for obesity.”
Twenty-three per cent of fertile Canadian women are obese according to government statistics. Obstetricians are concerned that they are seeing some patients with a body mass index or BMI of 50. That would put them in the category of morbidly obese. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9 according to the Canadian government’s health department.
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