A healthy diet is important for all but it may be all the more important for pregnant women and people who are trying to conceive a baby.
A new study from the UK finds that children aged 8-9 years were more likely to be obese if their mother had a poor diet before and during pregnancy. Published in the International Journal of Obesity, the long-running study analysed nearly 3,000 mother-child pairs.
SEE MORE Attention parents! You don’t need to be your child’s BFF. Here’s why
The survey, which began when the women first considered childbirth and went on till the kids turned 8 or 9, found that women with fewer academic qualifications, those who smoked and had a higher BMI (body mass index) generally fell into the ‘worse’ diet group with their offspring.
India, reportedly, has the second-highest number of obese children in the world after China. Childhood obesity causes long-lasting health problems that extend well into adulthood.
The researchers say that this is why it's especially important to intervene at the earliest possible stage in a child’s life, whether that’s during pregnancy or before conception.
SEE MORE Forget baby boom, people just don’t want kids anymore