The walls of the body’s major artery – the aorta – are already thickened
in babies born to mothers who are overweight or obese, according to a new
study.
The walls of the body’s major
artery – the aorta – are already thickened in babies born to mothers who are
overweight or obese, according to a new University of Sydney study.
More importantly, the Archives
of Disease of Childhood study found that this arterial thickening is
independent of the child’s weight at birth – a known risk factor for later
heart disease and stroke.
Twenty-three women, whose average
age was 35, were included in the study when they were 16 weeks pregnant. A body
mass index (BMI) of more than 25 kg/m2 was defined as overweight or obese, and
BMI ranged from 17 to 42 among the women.
The abdominal aorta, the section
of the artery extending down to the belly, was scanned in each newborn within
seven days of birth to find out the thickness of the internal walls – the
intima and media.
Intima-media thickness ranged
from 0.65 to 0.97 mm, and was associated with the mother’s weight. The
difference in intima-media thickness between babies of overweight and normal
weight mums was 0.06 mm.
According to study co-author, Dr.
Michael Skilton from the University’s Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition,
Exercise and Eating Disorders, thickening of the abdominal aorta is an
indication of early atherosclerosis, the disease that leads to the majority of
heart attacks and strokes.
“We already know that the
children of overweight or obese mothers are more likely to become overweight
and obese themselves, which will potentially increase their risk of heart
attack and stroke in adulthood,” he said. “By studying newborn babies, we can
potentially avoid the impact of whether or not the child becomes obese in later
life.
Skilton said that this is the
first study demonstrating that being an overweight or obese mother can itself
potentially lead to poor health of the blood vessels, which is consistent with
higher risk of heart disease and stroke in later life.
“Our findings suggest that
overweight/obesity may have an ‘intergenerational’ effect. That is, that the
children of overweight or obese mums may themselves be at higher risk in
adulthood of having heart attacks and strokes, irrespective of whether or not
they themselves are obese,” he said.
The researchers are currently
looking to replicate their findings with a much larger group of women and
babies.
The article can be found
at: Begg LM et al. (2013) Maternal
adiposity and newborn vascular health.
Source: University
of Sydney;
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