Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

Another study has addressed the health risks of children born to obese mothers.

According to a new article published in the journal Nursing for Women's Health (and reported by ScienceDaily), obesity in pregnant women is associated with pregnancy complications, birth defects, and a greater risk of childhood and adult obesity rates for the infants born to these mothers.

• Merrie Rebecca Walters, RN and Julie Smith Taylor, PhD, RNC, WHNP-BC, the article's authors, reviewed data to determine the potential consequences of maternal obesity.
  
• The researchers found that obese women are more likely to have an infant with a neural tube defect, a heart defect, or multiple problems, than women who are within the normal weight range.
  
• In addition, obese women are more likely that normal-weight women to experience pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes, hypertension, preeclampsia, labor induction, cesarean delivery, and postpartum hemorrhage.

The researchers also discovered that mothers' obesity may hold long-term implications for infants.

• Obesity among pregnant women is linked to childhood obesity in infants.
  
• A mother's obesity during pregnancy more than doubles the risk that the child will be obese at two to four years of age.
  
• These children are also at greater risk for obesity in adolescence and adulthood.
  

"Assisting women of childbearing age to achieve and maintain a healthful weight prior to conception will potentially minimize health risks to both mothers and infants," the authors wrote. "Health care providers must recognize the association between maternal obesity and childhood obesity and work to break the cycle of obesity before it becomes the leading cause of mortality in the United States."

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, mothers, pregnancy

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A study from Duke University indicates that obesity in mothers can cause "programming" that predisposes their children to inflammation related diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

The experiments were performed on laboratory rats, and found that offspring born to obese mothers could show a predisposition to such diseases even if the children were of normal weight.

A Feb. 10 LiveScience article provided the following information about the Duke research:

[Study co-author Staci D.] Bilbo and colleagues placed rats on one of three diets (low-fat, high-saturated fat, and high-trans fat) four weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. The high-fat diets rendered the mice clinically obese.

The newborn pups' brains were analyzed. Offspring born to mothers on the high-fat diets showed increased immune cell activation and release of injurious substances known as cytokines, all right after birth. The changes stuck even until the newborns became adults, and even after they were put on low-fat diets.

"This hyper-response to inflammation remained dramatically increased compared to rats born to normal-weight mothers," the researchers write.

The Duke study was published in the journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, mothers, pregnancy

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Health professionals have long known that children of overweight or obese parents are more likely to be overweight themselves. But they assumed the child became overweight as a result of learned behavior - for example, picking up bad nutritional and exercise habits from mom and dad:

"Now, animal studies suggest the environment the fetus is growing in influences the genes. 'The whole idea is, as that child comes out of the birth canal, you've already imprinted that child's vulnerability to be overweight,' [Dr. Robert] Kushner said."

These findings have compelled Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to begin a program aimed at helping pregnant mothers maintain healthy weight. The 20 women who participate in the program meet weekly for classes on nutrition, stress, and exercise. Source: ABS-CBN News (Philippines)

Labels: nutrition, pregnancy, parents

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A new study from Harvard University found that women who gain too much weight during their pregnancies might create obesity problems in their children.

The study involved looking at the health records of over 12,000 teenagers. If the mothers had gained more than the desired 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy, the children were 42 percent more likely to be obese between ages 9 and 14 years old.

The scientists believe that overeating during pregnancy may somehow alter gene expression or affect the child's appetite control centers.

This study appeared in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Corn in Fast Foods May Be Cause of Obesity Epidemic

"Corn is not just a grain used in the production of fast foods - it is the basis of all fast foods," according to a new study from the University of Hawaii.

Dr. Hope Jahren and her colleagues analyzed 480 servings of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and french fries from Wendy's, McDonalds, and Burger King restaurants in San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, and Baltimore. All the food was freeze-dried and analyzed chemically in a laboratory.

The researchers found that the basis of all the food was corn, partly because corn oil was used to make French fries and corn-fed beef was used in hamburgers. Corn syrup was a major ingredient in soft drinks, which were not part of this study.

Dr. Jahren and others in the field of nutrition believe that today's obesity epidemic is linked to over-consumption of corn products.

This study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, pregnancy

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A child's obesity may begin when his mother is pregnant, according to new research from Technical University in Munich, Germany.

The research team found that mothers who develop diabetes during pregnancy had a greater chance of having children who are overweight by age 11 years old. Diabetes is more common among overweight people.

Previous studies have shown that people who are overweight as children and teenagers have an 80 percent chance of being overweight in adulthood.
 

Labels: parenting, mothers, pregnancy

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