A Healthy Pregnancy Diet Reduces Risk of Congenital Disease

It has been known for quite some time that diabetic or overweight pregnant women have a higher risk of giving birth to an unhealthy child. The most common illness in new born babies being congenital heart disease. The question was if weight influences pregnancy, can a diet do the same.

A study published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics suggested that mothers who had a high fat diet just before but also during pregnancy drastically increased the risk of congenital diseases for their new born infants.

Scientists at Oxford University performed a study on mice to prove the link between diet and healthy pregnancy. The mice were divided into two groups. One group was given a high fat diet and the second was given a normal diet.

The experiment showed a high increase in risk of congenital disease in the offspring of the mice that were on the high fat diet.

Researchers say that the higher risks were caused by a lacking gene called Cited2. Cited2 deficiencies are responsible for heart diseases both in mice and humans. On the other hand, the mice that were fed the balanced diet were spawning healthy and normal offspring.

These fascinating results hold promise, scientists say since it proves that a healthy pregnancy diet reduces the risk of congenital disease.

Well, if you care about your children, and want to have a healthy pregnancy and healthy kids, then lay off the fatty food. Especially fast food products should be avoided. If you just can’t or won’t lose weight for your own health, then please do so for your own children. If by any means you can’t lose weight and can’t give up fatty foods even for a year and during pregnancy, then please reconsider having kids. A serious congenital disease can affect your kids for the rest of their lives. If worst comes to worst, they might end up suffering and die young.

So if you plan to have kids, please adopt a healthy balanced diet. You might lose some weight and you will increase your children’s chances of being healthy.

Also check out Should You Exercise During Pregnancy for a Healthy Pregnancy