Fatty pregnancy diet - Essay Example

Summary of Article “Fatty pregnancy diet can damage foetus, expert warns” At the Tenth International Congress on Obesity in Sydney, Swedish researchers had raised the alarm of their findings that there was a notable increase in the incidence of paediatric diabetes. Following up on this the American Neuroscientist Kevin Grove has warned that pregnant women who consumed high fat high-calorie foods greatly enhanced the probabilities of their babies developing liver diseases that could lead to diabetes and obesity, as they progressed in age.

This warning is based on research studies on primates that have found that fetuses provided with a high-fat diet demonstrated higher rates of fatty liver disease, abnormal brain development, and insulin resistance. This holds true even with mothers that were genetically lean, because of the damage that a high-fat diet has on the livers of the babies that predisposes them to becoming obese and diabetic. This is an area of concern as in the United States of America nearly two-thirds of the population are overweight, leading to a generation of babies being born with liver damage, and this predisposes them to developing obesity and diabetes.

The incidence of non-alcohol fatty liver disease has tripled in the recent times in the US. In addition there is the possibility of a number of children with metabolic abnormalities remaining undetected, because the abnormalities have not reached full liver disease to produce clinical manifestations. High-calorie diets are likely to damage the already complex appetite control system. It was quite likely that high-calorie diets could program the brain of the individual to choose foods that seem tasty but are unhealthy, or induce lethargy to prevent exercising the body, creating a disturbing pattern of life style.

Research is required into ascertaining whether a healthy diet could inhibit the development of fatty liver disease, and damage to the brain circuits that control appetite. This would enable obstetricians and pediatricians to recommend a healthy diet for pregnant women to prevent such diseases. (1) Obesity is a problem that develops as a result of unhealthy food habits and is the bane of modern life styles. In addition to this is the significant information that even lean mothers are not exempt from inducing fatty liver diseases in their children through unhealthy high-calorie diets.

In my opinion in addition to research activity for better clarity on the role of high-calorie diets in pregnant mothers on fatty liver diseases in fetuses, it is also necessary to create awareness among the target population on the problems associated with high-calorie diets. Prevention of behavior patterns that lead to bad health can be prevented by such awareness programs, as can be seen from the reduced use of cigarettes among pregnant women, when awareness of the harm that could befall the fetuses, as a result of cigarette smoking was created.

Works Cited 1. Burgess, M. “Fatty pregnancy diet can damage foetus, expert warns”. 2006. Yahoo News. 18 Sep. 2006.