Pregnant women’s diets ‘can affect health of multiple generations’

Pregnant women who maintain unhealthy diets could be predisposing future generations of their families to poorer health, according to a new study.

A team from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis examined mice fed with a diet comprised of about 60 percent fat and 20 percent sugar, mimicking the effects of eating fast food on a daily basis.

It was shown that even before becoming pregnant, female obesity caused genetic abnormalities that were subsequently passed through the female bloodline to at least three generations, even when the offspring ate healthily.

This increased the family's risk of obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It was observed that humans may be at an even greater risk than the mice in this study, as the diets of children tend to closely mirror those of their parents.

Further research is needed to determine if a healthy diet and regular exercise can reverse these genetic metabolic abnormalities over time.

Study senior author Dr Kelle Moley, Washington University School of Medicine's professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, said: "Over the decades, our diets have worsened, in large part due to processed foods and fast foods. We're seeing the effects in the current obesity crisis. Research, including this study, points to poor maternal nutrition and a predisposition to obesity."