New research has found that a mother’s diet in early life, can have more of an impact on her baby’s weight, than what she eats while pregnant.
Prof Christopher Kuzawa at Northwestern University in Illinois said that women’s bodies seemed to “buffer” the supply of nutrients to their unborn babies, meaning that foetuses were partly protected from changes in women’s diets.
These results have been compiled from a 30-year study that followed over 3,000 pregnant women in the Philippines whose children have now begun to have babies of their own.
Kuzawa has advised that women should try to maintain a healthy diet but not to become too focused on this either.
“Although there certainly are some harmful things to avoid during pregnancy, and some supplements to take to make sure some important bases are covered, the mother’s body seems to do a good job of buffering overall nutritional supply to her growing baby,” he said.
This study shows that a mother’s diet in early life can affect a baby’s weight, more than diet during pregnancy
“Within the bounds of a healthy balanced diet, the overall quantity of food that a mother eats is unlikely to have large effects on her baby’s birth weight,” he added.
While the study provided evidence that unborn babies benefit from extra folate, the picture was less clear on the roles of calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates.
This particular study suggested that a mother’s diet as an adult had little effect on her baby’s birth weight. Instead it pointed to the importance of the mother’s health as a baby and toddler, and even the grandmother’s diet when she was pregnant with the baby’s mother.
“Our findings add to growing evidence that the key to optimising the health of future generations is to promote good nutrition and health of the infants and young children who will be the next generation of mothers,” Kuzawa said.
