New scanning techniques have allowed Imperial College, London, scientists to examine fat in babies whilst still in the womb. They show, for the first time, a direct link between the overweight/obese BMI rating of a mother-to-be and her child. Some 50% of foetuses studied had more adipose, or fat, tissue around their abdomen than would have been expected. Newborn babies typically have about 700g of adipose tissue but for each unit increase in maternal BMI, this increased by some 7g with a huge build up of fat in the babies livers. Normally a newborn baby has minimal or no detectable liver fat.The Department of Health has announced that it will tackle obesity from pregnancy. The above research confirms that this is too late. Measures should now be considered to nip obesity in the bud - at school. With 50% of conceptions unplanned, it is of paramount importance that all women of child bearing age - nowadays from the earliest years of secondary school - should know the possible outcome of not being in good physical shape
Posts
