Diet during pregnancy may affect baby's metabolism - study

Pregnant women are likely to be the next target of healthy eating campaigns in the wake of breakthrough New Zealand research linking obesity to an expectant mother's diet.

Scientists have found children born to mothers who ate poorly during pregnancy are more likely to become obese later in life.

The revelations provide a clue as to why some people have a faster metabolism than others – the New Zealand research shows a rat mother eating a balanced diet had babies with a higher metabolism.

Rats whose mothers had a poor diet or too little food were more likely to become obese.

Once out of the womb the rats compensate their poor nutrition by storing fat.

Scientists have successfully used a drug called leptin to reverse the effects of poor diets in pregnant rats.

In humans, Professor Wayne Scahill says good diet is the best defence.

“That leptin was able to correct it in this particular animal model doesn't simply mean that poor diet during pregnancy can be easily fixed after birth. I think it would be erroneous to assume that. The focus should be on optimum nutrition.”

The Obesity Action Coalition says it has huge implications for the way it will promote healthy eating.

“It seems now that we should be starting with young women who are even considering having families later, to make sure that they get good nutrition all through their lives and that they maintain a good healthy diet,” says the coalition’s Lee Sturgess.

The Liggins Institute says the findings are at the forefront of obesity research worldwide.

The landmark study will be published in an American science journal this week.

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