Mothers who eat a junk-food diet in pregnancy may seriously damage the long-term health of their child, according to research published today.
The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, was carried out on rats, but scientists say they have every reason to believe that human babies may suffer as much harm as the offspring of rodents from exposure in the womb to high levels of fats, sugar and salt.
Last year the same team, from the Royal Veterinary College, London, published work showing that rats fed a diet of junk food were likely to have overweight babies that had a preference for junk food.
The new study, published today in the Journal of Physiology, finds that the bad effects are lasting. Even when the baby rats have been weaned off junk food and on to a normal diet, they are likely to grow up fatter than normal and with a raised risk of heart disease and diabetes.
“Women warned that junk food in pregnancy may hit child’s health” by Sarah Boseley in The Guardian.
The Grumpy Vegan says, “Does anyone know how to spell human epidemiological studies?”
