The tendency to overweight is formed before birth, scientists from the Charité clinic in Berlin found. A study published in the online journal PLOS ONE shows that the chances of children with a birth weight of more than 4000 grams to be overweight at a later age increase twice.
The results of the study show that the mother’s lifestyle has a significant impact on the future complexion of the child, including his tendency to be overweight, and throughout his life. Professor of the Department of Obstetrics Andreas Plugemann emphasizes: "Even more than before, during pregnancy is a key factor in the health of the child throughout his life."
Excess weight, overeating, a sedentary lifestyle and, as a result, metabolic disorders during pregnancy can lead to a large birth weight. In order to investigate the relationship between the weight of a person at birth and the risk of being overweight in later life, the research team evaluated data from 66 studies conducted for this purpose. The data in total concerned more than 640,000 people under the age of 75 years from 26 countries and 5 continents.
The increase in overweight and obesity, currently observed among the general population, is one of the biggest health problems. World statistics is as follows: more than half of the adult population and 15% of children and young people are overweight. As a result - a large number of problems in the field of health care. For example, overweight is one of the main factors determining the risk of developing diabetes, heart attack, stroke, cancer, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, as well as mental problems.
