Diet could alter a baby’s genes

April 14, 2009 by Baby Chums
Filed under: Baby Health, Pregnancy

A new study suggests that a poor diet can actually alter a baby’s genes. The age old mother’s saying, “Eating for two” could have drastic affects on fetal development, even altering a gene responsible for a protein that promotes normal development and growth.

If a pregnant rat does not eat well, her offspring exhibit genetic changes that affect what they’ll become. Because the genes and cellular mechanisms involved in the study are very similar to those in humans, researchers think the study could be applied to humans.

Rat fetuses receiving poor nutrition in the womb become genetically primed to be born into an environment lacking proper nutrition, the researchers figure; they were likely to grow to smaller sizes than their normal counterparts. The poorly nourished rats were also at higher risk for a host of health problems throughout their lives, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and neuro developmental delays.

“Our study emphasizes that maternal-fetal health influences multiple healthcare issues across generations,” said Robert Lane, professor of pediatric neonatology at the University of Utah. “To reduce adult diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, we need to understand how the maternal–fetal environment influences the health of offspring.”

The results, announced this week, are detailed online by the FASEB Journal.

The researchers split rat fetuses into two groups. The first group was normal. The second group had the delivery of nutrients from their mothers’ placentas restricted. The rats were examined right after birth and again at 21 days, considered preadolescence. The lack of nutrients in the second group caused a gene responsible for a protein that promotes normal development and growth in rats and humans to significantly reduce the amount of the protein produced before and after birth.