The causes of obesity could be traced back to the prenatal stage or to the first months of the baby’s life, since a group of scientists has discovered that overeating the mother during pregnancy and lactation -an excessive intake of calories- has a effect on the developing brain of their offspring and increases their desire for unhealthy foods when they reach adulthood, contributing to their overweight and obesity.
Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have examined this bond between mother and child in an experiment with mice. At first, they let some females become obese by giving them unlimited amounts of high-fat food during pregnancy and lactation, while others stayed lean because they also gave them unlimited, but in this case, healthy food.
They found that mice born to obese mothers stayed lean as adults, even if they ate as many healthy foods as they wanted, but when they had access to unlimited amounts of unhealthy foods, they abused unhealthy foods and ate them excessively. , compared to mice born to lean mothers.
“Over nutrition during pregnancy and lactation appears to rewire the brains of developing children and possibly future generations”
The results of the study have been published in Molecular Metabolism and suggest that although people whose mothers were overweight during pregnancy and lactation may find it more difficult to limit their intake of sweets, they can safely consume healthy foods until they are full. The findings could also help find drugs that influence the brain to reduce cravings for unhealthy foods.
“People born to overweight or obese mothers tend to carry more weight in adulthood than people born to thinner mothers, and experiments like this suggest the explanation goes beyond environmental factors, such as learning unhealthy eating habits. in childhood,” said Mark Rossi, a professor of psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and lead author of the study. “Over nutrition during pregnancy and lactation seems to rewire the brains of developing children and possibly future generations.”
Effects of maternal diet on the brain of their offspring
In the experiment, the researchers fed high-fat food to three sister mice and the healthy food to three of their other sisters. After finishing lactation, they looked at the nearly 50 pups, which, as expected, started out lighter or lighter depending on their mother’s diet, and leveled off at healthy levels after all the pups were offered food. Unlimited healthy for several weeks.
However, when they were given unlimited access to a high-fat diet, their weights again differentiated, as while all the animals ate too much, those born to overweight mothers ate significantly more than the others. The researchers later observed that the different behaviors probably derived from the different connections between two areas of the brain, the hypothalamus and the amygdala, which arose because of the type of maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation.
This study has several implications for those whose mothers are overweight and who also have trouble controlling their own weight. On the one hand, it suggests that you can stay slim while eating healthy foods until you are full, but avoiding junk food altogether. On the other hand, it suggests that, even if they strive to moderate their intake of unhealthy sweets, these types of products can encourage them to consume excessively and contribute to the development of obesity.
“There is still more work to be done because we still do not fully understand how these changes are occurring, even in mice,” Rossi said, adding: “But each experiment tells us a little more, and each bit we learn about the processes that drive overeating may uncover a strategy for potential therapies.”
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