Skinny Moms=Fat Kids

Studies have proven that obesity is genetic but we usually see obese children under the care of obese parents. There is the occasion when we see a skinny mom with an overweight child and we wonder what went wrong. If she is skinny, then we as a society assume she must be feeding herself the right foods and taking care of herself and wonder why she is not treating her child in the same way. Well, a new study has shown that while a child is in utero, whatever the mother eats will affect the child throughout his or her life.

A study conducted on rats showed that pregnant rats that were malnourished gave birth to overweight or obese babies. The idea is that because the rats were underfed while developing made them more likely to have a greater appetite and store more fat than rats developed in well-nourished mothers. Because of the results of these studies, scientists began to think that this link between skinny rat-moms and obese offspring was genetic. What they found was that parts of the chemicals bind to DNA that can either increase or decrease the activity of the genes that can cause obesity. They were able to prevent obesity in rats by controlling these chemicals and thought they could use this to combat obesity in humans.

Scientists performed a study in the United Kingdom to determine whether this group of chemicals, known as the methyl group, was the reason for childhood obesity. They analyzed their diets while they were pregnant, took DNA from umbilical cords at the child’s birth and waited nine years to test the children. They compared the amount of body fat to the amount of the methyl chemical and noticed there was a correlation. They performed another study with more mothers and children and got the same results. The more of the methyl chemical the mother passed to the child the more overweight or obese they became.

Most of the women in these studies followed a low carbohydrate diet which basically told the fetus that he or she was being starved. Most women in the United Kingdom and the United States follow this type of diet which tricks their babies. When the baby is born into a high carbohydrate, high caloric world, his or her body becomes confused. Instead of being starved there is more than enough food so they have an increased appetite and storing fat is what their body does so they do not starve again.

Basically, these studies conclude that whatever a mother eats while pregnant will affect her baby. With these findings, there is hope to aid the obesity epidemic. This will not be able to stop the problems but it explains the underlying problem that cannot be changed like everyone thought. Genetics may be one of the big role players in this epidemic but definitely not the only cause.

Picture:

http://www.supportweightloss.com/image-files/childobesity.jpg

Article:

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/04/why-skinny-moms-sometimes-produc.html?ref=hp