The University of Southampton recently conducted a study reiterating the need for pregnant women to consume healthy diets during the pre-conception period. The study revealed that healthy eating decreases obesity in children.
Previous studies revealed an increase in children suffering from the disease across the globe. For example, the U.K. revealed that at least a quarter of children below the age of five were overweight and that the number increases before they get into high school.
Unhealthy diet habits play a crucial role in increasing the rate of obesity in children. Unfortunately, previous studies proved that if no changes are made to the diets, then the child is likely to grow into an obese adult.
The study authors reported that the affected children are between the ages of eight to nine. In addition, most mothers develop a routine of unhealthy diets that begin during or before pre-conception.
How researchers conducted the study
The study authors focused on an estimate of 2,963 respondents who were grouped into mothers and children pairs. The Respondents were also a focus group of a previous study known as the U.K. Southampton Women’s Survey.
Southampton’s survey tracked the health progress of mothers and their children; most of the women in the study joined before they got pregnant.
The Respondents filled in questionnaires and physically answered questions surrounding their diets. The study authors investigated the mothers’ diets before they conceived and delivered their babies. A crucial phase of the study’s focus was the mother’s diet during 11 to 34 weeks of pregnancy and the child’s diet while six months, one year, or three years old.
The conclusions gathered by the authors rated the diets of each mother and child and enabled the study authors to grade the Respondent’s quality of diet. Furthermore, the authors separated the respondents into five groups: poor, poor-medium, medium, medium-better, and the best.
Mothers who smoked and had bad diets passed this to their children
The study authors revealed that children whose mothers had a history of smoking or had poor academic qualifications were victims of poor diets. Most of their children became candidates for obesity when they attained eight or nine years.
