by Kristin Harmel
June 10, 2010

Tricia has struggled with weight for as long as she can remember. Before she became pregnant with Lizzie, her first child, she was more than 50 pounds overweight, and during her pregnancy, she gained even more.

Since Lizzie was born six months ago, Tricia has been trying to shed the excess pounds. Even though Lizzie is just a baby, Tricia tries to eat healthy meals in front of her daughter, just in case Lizzie is taking note. Already, Lizzie’s weight is in the 90^th percentile. Tricia is worried about how her obesity might affect the weight of her child, and according to researchers, Tricia has reason to worry.

Data show that children with two obese parents—defined by having a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or more—were 12 times more likely to become obese during childhood compared to children with parents whose weight was appropriate. The researchers found that the mother’s weight had the greatest influence, and experts speculate that the reason for this is twofold: prenatal factors and the fact that mothers typically prepare meals for their children.

Research
Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this was the first study to use measured weight and height directly, rather than using self-reported means.

The research team, led by Dr. Jane Wardle, a professor of clinical psychology at University College London, looked at data from more than 7,000 children and their parents, all of whom took part in a national health survey in the UK. The data was recorded by trained interviewers using electronic measurements.

Results
Parental weight increases a child’s risk for obesity, more so among girls than boys.

• Only 2 percent of children with two healthy-weight parents were obese, compared to 22 percent of children from families with two obese parents.

• When both parents were overweight but not obese, nearly 5 percent of the children were obese.

• Nearly 12 percent of children with an obese father were obese, compared to 14.3 percent of children with an obese mother. Those numbers fell to 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively, with a healthy-weight father and a healthy-weight mother.

The conclusion: maternal health has a profound effect on a child’s weight gain. The question is why?

Prenatal factors
“Maternal link might be stronger for obesity as we inherit our mitochondria—the energy manufacturing center—from our mothers,” explains Dr. Carson Liu, a Los Angeles-based bariatric surgeon, who was not affiliated with the study. In other words, some of a child’s obesity risk comes from genetic factors, including the way we burn energy, which are passed down from mother to child.

There are other genetic factors at work too, explains Dr. Anatoly Belilovsky, a pediatrician in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Maternal genes are passed to the child, so a child of a mother prone to obesity may have that inclination regardless of what happened during gestation. Secondly, the amount of nutrients presented to the placenta—glucose, fats, proteins—depend on their level in maternal blood, which in turn depends on maternal diet and weight gain.”

“The most important connection is through insulin,” Belilovsky explains. “Glucose, but not insulin, crosses the placenta to the baby.  High maternal blood glucose causes high insulin production in the baby, which will drive down baby’s blood glucose—sometimes to dangerously low levels—but also stimulate baby’s appetite after birth.”

What this means for you: to put it simply, if you’re pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant, begin modifying your diet now. Healthier choices for you mean healthier nutrients for your baby.

Postnatal factors
While maternal obesity during pregnancy is potentially risky to the developing fetus, it does not mean that a child will inherently become obese.  “Genetics play about two-thirds of a role,” Liu says. “The rest is environmental, which means minimizing excessive carbohydrate intake and [engaging in] daily exercise. And teaching kids to be active and not sedentary with TV and video games.  After becoming obese, it is harder to lose the weight permanently.”

After you’ve had a baby, if you’re obese—or even just overweight—it’s important to begin setting a positive example for your child. Become physically active, model healthy eating habits especially as you begin to prepare your children’s meals at home, and encourage physical activity at an early age. “Kids need good role models,” says nutrition expert Jackie Keller, a certified wellness coach who has worked with celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Uma Thurman, and Jessica Alba. “Study after study confirms that these patterns are learned at home, long before less healthy patterns are learned at school.”

To get you started, we compiled four easy can-do steps to a healthier lifestyle at home:

• “Start kids early on drinking water instead of soda —diet soda included—or even juice,” Keller says. “Drinking water is fundamental to health and becomes habitual if encouraged constantly.”

• “Take walks with your children—everyday,” Liu says. Or, suggests Keller, “Incorporate something active into every day. Being consistent with activity is part of developing a pattern of healthy behaviors that can help keep a child at a healthy weight for a lifetime.”

• “Always have fresh fruit and vegetables—fresh is best, frozen is next—on hand for meals and snacks and eliminate highly processed foods and grains products from your menus,” Keller says. “Teach your children to eat small meals throughout the day.”

• “Don’t think that kids have to have sweets,” Liu says. “Kids don’t have a different food pyramid that consists of mac and cheese, cheese pizza, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, and cheeseburgers. They can eat healthy foods to start early on in their lives, including fish, cooked vegetables, eggs, and non-processed foods.”