Fed: Underfed mums risk giving disease to poor little lambs

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2007
Fed: Underfed mums risk giving disease to poor little lambs

By Tamara McLean, National Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Feb 1 AAP - Tests on pregnant sheep show that malnourished mothers can "program"

their babies at conception to develop heart disease as adults.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide underfed scores of ewes to see what effect
a lack of nutrients and protein had on the embryo and the foetus.

They found that the mother's levels of nutrition in the 50 days before conception and
the week afterwards strongly influenced whether the baby would go on to develop heart
disease or diabetes later in life.

"We found that with a nutrient restriction on the animal you get a foetus that has
an altered growth trajectory," said researcher Severence MacLaughlin.

"That triggers lots of changes very early on and sets them up for adult diseases."

Dr MacLaughlin said it had been known for 20 years that poor maternal health during
pregnancy could have detrimental effects on adult health.

"But for the maternal environment around the time of conception to be shown to have
these effects is very significant," he said.

The researchers tested their theory on about 200 sheep, the animal regarded as the
"gold standard" model of human pregnancy.

Half ate a healthy quantity of feed while the rest were purposefully underfed by 30
per cent, leading to malnutrition.

In the underfed ewes, the lack of nutrition altered the chemical "signal" from mother
to the developing embryo, affecting the development of the placenta and foetus.

"We found that maternal undernutrition during these few days alters foetal growth and
weight due to changes in the development of the placenta," Dr MacLaughlin said.

"There are also changes to the cardiovascular and kidney development of the foetus
during very early and late gestation."

"This may be setting the scene for the development of adult disease."

The researcher said his recently-published results should serve as a warning to women
trying to have a baby, or those at risk of unplanned pregnancy.

"To put it in context, how many women know they are pregnant during the first week
of life?" he said.

"Through their diet women could be having an impact on their child's health for its entire life."

AAP tam/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: NUTRITION

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