Your child may suffer long-term effects of a high-fat, high calorie diet consumed during your pregnancy. At least this is what scientists are finding is the case for the offspring of Japanese macaque monkeys - a primate that is often used for research because body function and disease processes are similar to that of humans.

Scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) recently found that offspring of mothers who overeat during pregnancy are at risk for liver and pancreas damage, both of which organs are involved in early-onset obesity and diabetes. What is more, there were changes in the hypothalamus in some of the offspring, an area of the brain that controls weight regulation.

This type of research contributes to the growing evidence that maternal diet is connected to a child's potential for obesity.