Eating a low-quality diet, high in food and food components associated with chronic inflammation, during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of obesity and excess body fat in children, especially in late infancy. The findings are published in the journal Open Access BMC medicine.
Researchers from University College Dublin, Ireland found that children of mothers who ate a higher quality, low-quality diet in inflammation-related foods had a lower risk of obesity and lower body fat levels. children whose mothers ate a lower quality diet, high in inflammation-related foods, while pregnant. This link was not observed in early or middle childhood.
Corresponding author Ling-Wei Chen said: “Obesity in childhood often leads to adulthood and is associated with an increased risk of breast disease, leading to obesity. include type 2 diabetes. Direct evidence indicates that a maternal diet affects pregnancy and birth outcomes and marks the first thousand days of a child’s life, from conception to two years. Our research shows that children born to mothers who eat a low – quality, high – quality diet in inflammation – related foods, during pregnancy, during pregnancy. Obesity or excess body fat may be more likely in late infancy than those born to mothers who eat a high-quality, low-fat diet in inflammation-related foods. “
To examine the effects of maternal diet on the appearance of childhood obesity and excess body fat, the authors analyzed data collected from 16,295 mother-infant pairs in seven European birth cohort studies, from Ireland, France , the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland, which is involved in the ALPHABET consortium. On average, mothers were 30 years old and had a healthy BMI. Mothers described the food they ate before and during pregnancy. The researchers assessed the quality of diet and whether high diets in food and food components were associated with chronic inflammation, such as saturated fats, refined carbohydrates and red and processed meats. Children’s BMI was measured at the early, middle and late stages of childhood. Additional data on children’s body writing in the middle or end of childhood were collected in five of the numbers included in the study.
The researchers found that children born to mothers who ate a diet high in inflammation-related foods during pregnancy tended to have lower levels of fat-free body mass, showing lower levels of muscle mass. , at the end of childhood than those whose mothers ate a diet low in inflammation-related foods. Previous research has found that low levels of muscle mass may be linked to an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity
A link between a lower quality maternal diet, high in inflammation-related foods, and lower levels of lean body mass at the end of infancy was found to be stronger in boys than in girls. A lower-quality maternal diet, high in inflammation-related foods, and higher body fat levels in the middle of infancy were strongly associated in girls than in boys.
Catherine Phillips, principal investigator and co-ordinator of the ALPHABET project, said: “Previous research has suggested that lower maternal carbohydrate intake in pregnancy can induce epigenetic changes – changes that alter gene expression – in children who may be associated with increased risk. obesity.We suggest that a lower quality maternal diet, high in diet associated with inflammation, may cause epigenetic changes and that this may increase the risk of children becoming obese or overweight body fat later on. Our findings suggest that promoting wholeness a healthy diet, high in fruits and vegetables and low in refined carbohydrates and red meat and processed, during pregnancy can help prevent childhood obesity. “
The authors caution that the observational nature of the study does not allow conclusions about a causal relationship between maternal diet and childhood obesity and excess body fat. A future study should describe in more detail other factors that may influence the risk of obesity in childhood, such as childhood physical activity and diet, according to the authors.
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Notes to the Editor:
1. Research article: “Maternal diet quality, inflammatory capacity and adiposity of childhood: individual participant data analysis of seven European peers in the ALPHABET consortium”
BMC medicine 2021 DOI: 10.1186 / s12916-021-01908-7
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