While the importance for women to eat a healthy, balanced diet
before conception and during and after pregnancy has been previously
known, just how vital it is may have been overlooked.
Research on animals has indicated that the unwanted consequences
of poor nutrition stretch across numerous generations, offering
a connection between the poor diets of grandmothers during pregnancy
and while breastfeeding and the origins of insulin-resistance and
type 2 diabetes in their grandchildren.
Chilling facts: The number of type 2 diabetics is estimated to
double to 300 million worldwide by 2025; the disease is responsible
for early death and painful and debilitating complications such
as limb amputation and blindness.
Revealing the Connection
Experiments on animals showed that grandchildren of rats not given
proper nutrition during pregnancy were at an increased risk of obesity
and insulin resistance.
But what about humans?
Though previous research has suggested a child may be at a higher
risk of diabetes if their mother's diet was poor during pregnancy
and breastfeeding, researchers believe this study may be the first
to show the effect may be passed down to the next generation as
well:
-
Granddaughters, rather than grandsons, are particularly susceptible
to diabetes if their grandmother's diet was not up to par during
pregnancy.
-
However, grandsons seemed to be more affected by the lack of
nutrients received directly from their mothers during breastfeeding.
These results highlight the importance of women eating well during
pregnancy and the first few months after giving birth.
Journal
of Physiology April 28, 2005
BBC
News May 8, 2005
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