PREGNANCY CARE - Eating for two in pregnancy can make your child fat by 12

Eating for two in pregnancy can make your child fat by 12: Expectant mothers warned they could condemn their offspring to a lifetime of obesity

• - Children more likely to be obese if mother puts on weight while pregnant
• - Research finds over eating when pregnant could lead to life-long problems
• - Conditions in womb may impact unborn child's appetite control
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By FIONA MACRAE

PUBLISHED: 22:58 GMT, 1 October 2013 | UPDATED: 06:52 GMT, 2 October 2013

Eating for two: New research suggests eating more when pregnant could lead to child obesity

Pregnant women who eat for two could be condemning their unborn children to a lifetime of obesity, research suggests.

Twelve-year-olds were more likely to be overweight or obese if their mothers had put on a lot of weight in pregnancy, the study found.

With fat children likely to become fat adults, the US researchers warned that overeating while expecting a baby could create lifelong problems.

They said their findings could not be explained away by women who put on weight simply because their baby was bigger at birth.

Nor could they be fully attributed to mother and child sharing genes or diet and exercise habits.

The researchers concluded that conditions in the womb, affected by the mother’s diet, may have long-lasting consequences for the unborn child’s appetite control or storage of fat.

Being obese can knock up to nine years off a person’s life and raise the risk of health problems including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, infertility, depression and some cancers.

Almost a third of two to 15-year-olds in England are overweight or obese.

Experts have warned that if this trend continues, today’s generation runs a real risk of being the first to die at a younger age than their parents.

The researchers, of Boston Children’s Hospital, compared the weight of more than 90,000 12-year-olds with information about their mother’s pregnancy.

On average, the women gained around 2st 2lb in pregnancy. But some put on close to 4st. British mothers-to-be typically put on around 1st 10lb.

The analysis showed that a baby whose mother put on more than 2st 12lb was eight per cent more likely to be obese than one whose mother gained between 13lb and 1st 12lb.

Obese: Children aged 12 are more likely to be obese if their mother puts on weight during pregnancy

The researchers said in journal PLoS Medicine: ‘The eight per cent increase in risk … would account for several hundred thousand annual cases of paediatric overweight or obesity worldwide.

‘Because childhood body weight predicts adult body weight, our study suggests that over-nutrition in pregnancy may programme the foetus for an increased lifetime risk for obesity, although the magnitude of this may be small.

‘In conclusion, this study suggests that high pregnancy weight gain increases body weight in childhood and that measures to limit pregnancy weight gain may help prevent obesity in the subsequent generation.’

Obesity also raises the odds of a risky pregnancy and concern about rates among mothers-to-be led to the Government’s health watchdog advising that the traditional idea of ‘eating for two’ is dangerous.

Guidelines from the Government’s health watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, say mothers-to-be do not need to increase calorie intake until the last three months of pregnancy, when they only need an extra 200 calories a day – the equivalent of a small sandwich.

Patrick O’Brien, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said women should think about losing weight before and after pregnancy.  During pregnancy, health eating is key.

He added: ‘I always say that if you focus on eating as healthily as you can in pregnancy and getting some regular exercise, then the weight will look after itself.’