A new study published in the Journal of Physiology reveals that babies born to mothers with obesity are at a higher risk of developing heart problems and diabetes in adulthood, a consequence of fetal damage caused by the mother’s high-fat, high-energy diet.
This groundbreaking research highlights how an unhealthy maternal diet can disrupt critical thyroid hormone levels in the fetal heart, adversely affecting its development. The study indicates that consuming a high-fat, sugary diet during pregnancy increases the likelihood of the unborn child becoming insulin resistant later in life, potentially leading to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, even if the baby is born at a normal weight.
Researchers from the University of South Australia conducted the study by analyzing tissue samples from fetuses of pregnant baboons that were fed a high-fat, high-energy diet at a biomedical research institute in the United States. These samples were compared to those from fetuses of baboons on a control diet.
Lead author Melanie Bertossa, a PhD candidate at the University of South Australia, emphasized the significance of the findings, which establish a clear connection between a diet high in saturated fats and sugars and poor cardiovascular health. “There has been a long-standing debate about whether high-fat diets induce a hyper- or hypothyroid state in the fetal heart. Our evidence points to the latter,” Bertossa stated.
The study found that a maternal high-fat, high-energy diet reduced levels of the active thyroid hormone T3, which is crucial for signaling the fetal heart to prepare for life after birth. “Without this signal, the fetal heart develops differently,” Bertossa explained.
Moreover, the research indicates that diets rich in fat and sugar can disrupt molecular pathways related to insulin signaling and essential proteins for glucose uptake in the fetal heart, increasing the risk of cardiac insulin resistance, which often leads to diabetes in adulthood. Bertossa noted, “You’re born with all the heart cells you will ever have. The heart does not produce enough new muscle cells after birth to repair damage, so negative changes to these cells before birth could persist for a lifetime.”
Senior author Janna Morrison, a Professor of Physiology at UniSA, stressed the importance of proper maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy, not only for the mother’s health but also for the well-being of the child. “Poor cardiac outcomes were observed in babies with normal birth weights, which should inform future clinical practices,” Morrison said.
She advocates for cardiometabolic health screenings for all babies born to mothers on high-fat diets, emphasizing the need to detect heart disease risks early, regardless of birth weight. Morrison warned that if the rising trend of high-fat, sugary diets is not addressed, more individuals may face health complications such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, potentially leading to shorter lifespans in the coming decades.
The research team is currently engaged in long-term studies tracking the health of babies born to mothers on high-fat, high-energy diets to monitor their health outcomes over the years. With the insights gained from this study, there is hope for changing the trajectory of health risks associated with maternal obesity.
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