15 August 2007

Mums who eat junk food give birth to overeaters.

I love science. Seriously, since when did it become okay to test out theories on rats and then apply them to human beings? According to the Vancouver Sun:

"Children whose mothers eat junk food during pregnancy and breastfeeding are more likely to overeat, choose an unhealthy diet and grow obese later in life, according to research using rats published on Wednesday."

Right. Apparently the appetite mechanisms in rats and human beings are similar so this new research has shown that baby rats get a taste for unhealthy foods when they are born and therefore, fetuses should develop the same unhealthy taste for junk.

Why is it that women and their eating habits in pregnancy continue to be constant sources of moral panic and shaming. In my own research, I've found that pregnant women struggle with food in a way they've never had to before in terms of feeding themselves and feeding their fetuses almost as if they were competing interests. Compounded by all the 'rules' of eating in pregnancy, scaring pregnant women into thinking that if they have a few donuts somehow their babies are going to be overeaters for life makes me really angry.

My mum lived on Baby Ruth bars (it's an American thing) for 40 weeks and a sugar addict I am not.

Source: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5fed1943-835b-4b84-97bf-c89b8134bb09&k=81306

Also thanks to Claire from Inside Beauty who so nicely linked to this blog to promote healthy fashion/body/beauty awareness. Check them out http://5resolutions.blogspot.com/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For a source that's more "from the horse's mouth" when it comes to med related news, I recommend

http://www.news-medical.net

It provides the original press release (as far as I can tell) provided from the research group/university. For the most part it states the research, context, and what questions still remain.

from the story..
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=28791

"Experts warn against making women feel guilty about eating some unhealthy snacks during pregnancy and say that is when a balanced diet is important.

They also say data in human studies are needed to add support to the findings."

Scientists know that this is only a small part of a much larger picture, this point is typically lost when the media gets a hold of it.

 
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