UK: According to a new research it has been found that fetuses that experience epigenetic changes’ when the mothers gained weight more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, as reported by the Daily Mail. These DNA changes can develop cell types that can determine how the body will store fat for the rest of the life.
Karen Lillycrop, lead author of the University of Southampton shared, “Our results add to the growing evidence that epigenetic changes detectable at birth are linked to a child's health as they grow up.”
He further added, “Additionally, it also strengthens the body of evidence that shows a mother's health during pregnancy can affect the future health of her child. It could allow us to more accurately predict the future risk of.”
To conduct this study samples from the umbilical code of 1,500 babies we taken by Dr Lillycrop’s team. For the next six years, the team followed by on them periodically. They observed the SLC6A4 gene, which regulates the mood and appetite of a person. Environmental factors can alter the genes with which a person is born, thereby affecting how human body will work.
According to the researchers, it has been observed that mothers, who gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, were likely to have a child with SLC6A4 mutations.
Co-author Professor Keith Godfrey, a member of the research team and Director of the EpiGen Global Consortium, added, “The new findings strengthen the case that primary prevention of childhood obesity needs to begin before birth, and might 'reset' appetite levels in ways that protect infants and children from putting on excessive weight. Ongoing research is examining whether diet and lifestyle interventions before and during pregnancy might be able to tackle and even reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.”
