An initial study, published last year by the Royal Veterinary College and carried out on rats, found that the mothers who ate a diet rich in fat, sugar and salt while pregnant were more likely to have offspring who over-ate, compared to rats who ate regular food.
A follow-up study, published today in the Journal of Physiology by the same researchers, found that the effect lasted beyond adolescence, even when the offspring were weaned off junk food.
Rats whose mothers were fed unhealthy diets were still fatter than those whose mothers had eaten healthier diets while pregnant and breastfeeding. They also had higher levels of cholesterol, fat, glucose and insulin, putting them at risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
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