American obesity is passed on to the next generation
Is it inevitable that overweight mothers will have fatter babies than thin mothers? It seems to us that it is not inevitable. But this is exactly what is happening in the US, say the researchers who documented how the "obesity epidemic" is passed on to the next generation.
The group, based at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, found that the percentage of babies born with excess weight increased by more than two-thirds over the past two decades. Today, 10% of babies born, already at birth, are defined as having excess weight. And the percentage of babies at the upper end of the weight scale, referred to as "at risk of becoming overweight" increased by a third and reached 14%.
The researchers, led by Matt Gilman, followed more than 120,000 babies and children from birth to 6 years of age, and checked their weight and height. Infants from birth to 6 months of age showed a particularly large increase in obesity from 1980 to the XNUMXs.
A mother who gains a lot of weight during pregnancy affects her or his son's lifelong tendency to become obese, says Gilman, who reports the findings in the journal Obesity.
In extreme cases, gaining a lot of excess weight during pregnancy can lead to a condition called gestational diabetes in the mother. Studies of the syndrome in mice have shown that it causes an increase in the levels of the hormone insulin among the pups. High levels of insulin then stimulate appetite due to the effect of insulin on the hypothalamus, a part of the brain responsible for regulating food intake. The same thing seems to happen in humans as well.
"Gestational diabetes may program the babies towards a certain path leading to obesity" says Gilman.
In less extreme cases, the mother's or father's weight may send a message to the developing baby through an egg, a sperm cell or the state of the uterus. Not by changes in the DNA sequence, but by a change in the way the DNA is expressed. Exactly how this might work today is still unknown.
It is clear that diet can also have an effect on the development of the baby. Breastfed babies generally gained weight more slowly than formula fed babies. This is partly due to the fact that the composition of the food is different: in the first feedings, breast milk provides essential factors for the immune system and fattier milk appears only later; The composition of formula milk, on the other hand, is fixed. Another factor is a difference in feed models. "A breastfed baby has much more control over the amount of milk he receives, while a bottle-fed baby has much less control," says Tim Cole, from the Child Health Institute in London, UK. "A bottle-fed baby will receive an amount of milk that seems appropriate for the mother and not for him."
However, the prevalence of breastfeeding in the US has increased, not decreased, in recent years, and at the same time the number of overweight babies has increased. Gilman says that breastfeeding probably works to reduce the tendency for babies to become obese. According to him, babies will be even fatter if mothers bottle feed them and do not breastfeed.
Is it really that bad for babies to be fat and chubby? Many babies don't lose their childhood fat, Gilman says. And in addition, overweight babies and children are more likely to become overweight adults, especially if their appetite is "programmed" to a higher level. This may affect them and lead them to chronic syndromes such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
In an article by Dr. Ronit Andwalt, director of the nutrition unit at Maccabi Health Services, it was stated that preventing obesity through proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle is undoubtedly the best way to treat obesity, and it is never too early to start. The earlier you start treating an overweight or obese child, the less likely it is that he will become an obese adult.
In a study published in 1997, in which obese children were followed, it was found that starting at the age of 4, the fat child's chance of becoming an obese adult increases from 20 percent to 80-60 percent in adolescence.
The World Health Organization defined obesity as a chronic disease, a clinical and psychological problem of crucial importance to public health. As the children gained weight, the morbidity due to obesity also increased. "Children began to suffer from high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, increased blood lipids, back and joint problems, breathing problems." Thanks to the recognition of obesity as a disease, the treatment recommendations have also changed. Today's treatment includes evaluation by a doctor and sometimes even a psychologist, nutritional counseling, physical activity and sometimes medication. After ruling out the possibility of disease as a cause of obesity (for example, thyroid inactivity), the contribution of the family and the environment to the weight problem is examined.
