17 March 2009

Chicago helps to conquer prenatal obesity

A new program in Chicago at Northwestern Hospital is aiming to keep prenatal obesity in check (yes, PRENATAL OBESITY).

According to Dr. Robert Kushner, director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity,

"The whole idea is, as that child comes out of the birth canal, you've already imprinted that child's vulnerability to be overweight," Kushner said.

"It's like being born with handcuffs on. In this environment, how do they have a fighting chance?"

Each week women in the program meet for nutrition classes, stress and exercise. Focusing specifically on controlling maternal obesity, the hospital has already referred about 20 women so far.

Interesting, considering that new research reveals that Australian babies are larger than ever. This time, however, Dr. Ruth Hadfield of the University of Sydney, argues that big babies are not healthy, they are overweight. As maternal obesity has increased so too has birth weight.

Source: Helping babies beat obesity
Big Aussie babies

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