A new breakthrough study on a pregnant mother's nutrition can have a great effect on the risk of obesity on the child
. The study has also shown that the mother's diet can alter the functioning of their child's DNA.
This dietary influenced change is called epigenetic change and its effect on the propensity of the child to add on fat. This research also concluded that the epigenetic change acts independent of the fatness or thinness of the mother and the weight at infant birth. This means that regardless of the physical change, the child would eventually be affected regarding their weight and their health.
Thus this epigenetic change is another factor in determining the overall health of the child later on in life. These include development of such diseases as obesity, diabetes and other problems. The most pernicious of these possible diseases is diabetes. This condition is the body's inability to either produce and/or properly metabolize the hormone insulin.
The hormone insulin is important to the body's ability to use blood sugar for fuel in its normal processes. These normal processes include cell regeneration and functioning. If the cells are unable to have fuel for use, then it dries up and dies, leading to organ malfunction and even failure.
The other contributory factor would be lifestyle and diet. The lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyle would definitely contribute to the development of the child's obesity and diabetes. This taken with a high sugar and fat diet, then the body would be unable to properly adjust its metabolism to address the flood of sugar and fats in the body. Insulin is important to the proper management of these chemicals in the body.
This whole cycle can start even during pregnancy. The predisposition to unhealthy living such as obesity and diabetes can be properly avoided by the mother eating healthy food and exercising while carrying the child. Being proactive as a pregnant mother through proper nutrition and exercise can prevent epigenetic changes that can lead to health problems to the child in the long run.
Thus, prevention and check ups must become the norm in order to prevent the development of the child's obesity and eventual diabetes. This starts from the parent because in the eyes of the child, what the parent does is always right. In eating right, exercise and check ups can help prevent diabetes in the parent and help keep the child healthy for all time.