As if there is not enough pressure on pregnant mums to be, now new findings have shown that a mother’s diet during pregnancy can increase the risk of obesity by changing the babies DNA.  The study will be published in the journal Diabetes and was carried out by NHS trusts in the UK. The study established that pregnant women who ate low levels of carbohydrate changed the DNA of the baby. It was then these changes that resulted in children who became fatter.  It further concluded that ‘a developing baby tries to predict the environment it will be born into, taking cues from its mother and adjusting its DNA.’ Professor Keith Godfrey University of Southampton observed “what is surprising is that it explains a quarter of the difference in the fatness of children.

The British Heart Foundation believe that mothers to be should be informed better on nutrition in order to avoid the risk of obesity and other health and lifestyle issues in regard to their developing baby. A professor from the foundation commented that the study “strengthens the case for all women of reproductive age [to have] greater access to nutritional, education and lifestyle support to improve the health of the next generation, and to reduce the risk of the conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which often follow obesity.”

The findings further showed that the birth weight and consequential weight of the child was not dependent on the size of the mother but her diet; and a pregnant woman who did not consume enough carbohydrates during pregnancy was increasing the risk of obesity in her child. What do you think of these latest findings?