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Mother's Lifestyle During Pregnancy Linked to Childhood Obesity

by Dr. Trupti Shirole on Mar 15 2012 3:18 PM

 Mother
New evidence has linked womb environment to childhood obesity.
On testing the umbilical cord blood scientists at Newcastle University found changes around the DNA in the genes that are linked to body weight. They linked these changes to a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in children aged about 9-years. These changes may result from exposure to environmental factors like pollution or mother's diet, hormones or exposure to stress, smoking particularly in the womb and during early childhood.

Lead researcher Dr. Caroline Relton said, "This suggests that our DNA could be marked before birth and these marks could predict our later body composition."

The findings are published in the journal Plos One.

Source-Medindia


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