A link has been found between a poor diet while pregnant and the child becoming diabetic later in life. Studies in rats have indicated that the poor diet can lead to the gene linked to insulin production being silenced in the offspring.
Experts have long believed that what the mother eats during pregnancy can have far reaching effects on the health of the unborn child, and these findings seem to back up those theories. It appears that the function of the gene, known as Hnf4a, is greatly compromised by an imbalanced diet. This gene is generally considered to play a major part in the production of Insulin and the pancreatic development.
Due to the obvious difficulties, they tested the theory on rats rather than expectant women. Those rats that were fed a diet deficient in protein were found to give birth to more offspring who went on to develop type 2 Diabetes. Further testing showed this to be because the gene had been switched off or silenced as the rats grew up.
The leader of the study, Dr. Susan Ozanne from Cambridge University, says that more research is needed to establish the effect a high fat diet and other imbalances have on the foetus. She stresses that while a healthy, well balanced diet is always important; during pregnancy it is absolutely vital.
Type 2 Diabetes has long been associated with obesity, but it seems that this study shows it’s not the only cause.
A spokesman from the BHF welcomed the research but warned that pregnant women shouldn’t be scared of what they ate, but to keep a good nutritional balance. Problems in later life could be caused by genetic defects that had nothing at all to do with the mother’s diet.
