In the past generation, pregnant women have learned a lot about the importance their behavior has on the yet-unborn children. Women today understand that certain behavior – such as smoking and drinking a lot of alcohol – can have serious negative effects on their children before they are even born. Women today also understand the importance of “eating well” during pregnancy.
It turns out that eating well during pregnancy is important for future grandchildren, as well as children.
Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City showed that grandchildren of female rats who were fed an inadequate diet during pregnancy and/or lactation (when they were breastfeeding their children) were more likely to become obese and insulin resistant than grandchildren of females fed an adequate diet.
Insulin resistance is when your body doesn’t use the insulin it makes.
The research is particularly interesting because it had been known that a mother’s diet can affect her children. This study, published in the Journal of Physiology, is the first to show that a mother’s behavior can affect her grandchildren.
Study author Dr. Peter W. Nathanielsz explained: “These new findings stretch the unwanted consequences of poor nutrition across generations. It offers us important clues about the origins of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.”
Dr Nathanielsz said the finding re-emphasizes the need to provide better maternal care and advice to women about good nutrition both during pregnancy and lactation.
