Mummy’s unhealthy diet could be to blame for a child’s obesity risk

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.

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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.

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