Children of mothers who eat junk food are more likely to be overweight – study obesity

Studies suggest that children of mothers who consume ultra-processed foods such as cooked foods, sugary cereals and biscuits are more likely to grow up to be overweight or obese.

Studies show that the relationship between maternal diet and childhood obesity risk is independent of other lifestyle risk factors, such as the child’s own consumption of ultra-processed foods. Findings are published in his BMJ.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School warned that more research is needed to confirm these findings and understand possible causative factors.

However, they said mothers could benefit from limiting their intake of ultra-processed foods, improving dietary guidelines, improving nutrition for women of childbearing age, and reducing childhood obesity. We need to remove economic and social barriers to reduce it.

“Maternal ultra-processed food consumption during parenting was associated with increased risk of overweight or obesity in offspring, independent of maternal and offspring lifestyle risk factors,” the researchers wrote. There is

“Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to understand the underlying biological mechanisms and environmental determinants.

“These data support the importance of improving dietary recommendations and developing programs to improve the nutrition of women of reproductive age to promote the health of their offspring.”

according to the world health According to the organization, 39 million children will be overweight or obese in 2020, increasing their risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and early death.

Ultra-processed foods such as packaged baked goods and snacks, sodas, and sugary cereals are common in the modern Western diet and are associated with weight gain in adults. It was unclear whether there was an association between maternal ultra-processed food consumption and the weight of their offspring.

Researchers used data from 19,958 children born to 14,553 mothers in the United States.

A variety of other potentially influencing factors, known to be strongly correlated with childhood obesity, were also considered. with or without partner), partner education, children’s ultra-processed food consumption, physical activity, and sedentary time.

Results showed that a mother’s consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with an increased risk of her offspring being overweight or obese. found a 26% higher risk compared to the lowest consumption group.

Because this was an observational study, we were unable to identify a cause, and the researchers acknowledged some limitations of their study. Using data from the accompanying large ongoing study, the analysis produced consistent associations, suggesting that the results are conclusive.

They said it was not immediately clear what was behind the relationship between maternal ultra-processed food consumption and childhood obesity, and called for further investigation.

“Although the pathways underlying our findings are not yet fully elucidated and are beyond the scope of this investigation, maternal diet during parenting shapes dietary and lifestyle choices in offspring.” likely to be overweight, which in turn has a significant impact on the risk of overweight or obesity,” they wrote.

“Our results showed that the association between maternal ultra-processed food intake during parenting and the risk of overweight or obese children was independent of the child’s lifestyle risk factors. This finding indicates that there may be other pathways by which maternal ultra-processed food intake may influence the risk of overweight in children, such as long-term in utero. Imprinting and the presence of uncharacterized genes due to environmental factors.”