The risk of overweight of children increases if the mother does this while pregnant

Fighting overweight? Blame Mom.

Over one billion people worldwide are living with overweight, determined to have a bbi of 30 or higher.

The World Health Organization officially declared overweight a global epidemic in 1997, stressing that the norms had tripled since 1975 – that is when experts believe the epidemic began.

What has remained a greatly debated mystery is why, with most of the finger in lifestyle factors such as dietary changes and lower behavior. But a new study published today says they are not all.

The University of Edinburgh researchers analyzed the data of over 17,000 people born in the same week in March 1958, paying particular attention to what their weight was at the ages of 16 and 42 – a verse that covers the UK overweight.

What they found was that mothers who smoked – or were themselves thick – were much more likely to have children who were thick in those ages.

These findings suggest that the factors present at the beginning of life can have long-term effects on a person’s weight-implying that individual behaviors only did not direct the epidemic of overweight.

“Our research shows that the effect of the mother’s influences continues until the age of 42 and that surprisingly, the predictive ones were just as powerful (and widespread) in the era before the current overweight pandemic began,” the authors writes.

They added that more studies are needed to examine how community and society factors can affect overweight – and how this can be a way to prevent overweight in the future.

“Our results suggest that sociodemographic and early life risk factors can be used to target overweight prevention programs for children and adults,” they said.

This study coincides with previous research showing that mother’s behavior is a strong predictor of children’s overweight.

A 2019 study found that children of mothers who were thick while pregnant had a 264% increased likelihood of developing overweight.

And a 2014 study shows a link between maternal smoking – more than paternal smoking – and the risk of overweight of children.

Research suggests that a mother’s health and living choices – such as poor nutrition during pregnancy, gestational diabetes, formula nutrition, early introduction of solid foods, a sedentary lifestyle, poor sleep patterns and high stress levels – can significantly increase her child’s risk of obesity.